Sheffield United relying on Manchester City favour to sign out-of-favour defender | OneFootball

Sheffield United retain an interest in bringing back Kyle Walker to Bramall Lane from Manchester City this summer, as per a new report.

Walker is entering the final 12 months of his current deal at the Etihad Stadium and has been told by Manchester City bosses he is not part of the club’s plans next season, with Newcastle’s Valentino Livramento linked with a summer transfer.

The 35-year-old moved to AC Milan on loan from Manchester City in January after losing his spot in Pep Guardiola’s starting XI in the fall of 2024, with the likes of Matheus Nunes and Rico Lewis preferred to the England international at right-back whilst the Blues were struggling.

After beginning the previous campaign as club captain, Walker made a series of high-profile errors and swapped Manchester for Milan midway through the season, with City also bringing in Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis in January.

Having secured a spot in next season’s UEFA Champions League, Manchester City have added Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki to their squad ahead of their FIFA Club World Cup opener against Wydad AC next week.

Walker – who will not play at the Club World Cup – has no future at Manchester City and has been told to find a new club as he enters the last year of his contract. The defender has returned from AC Milan, who are currently not expected to bring him back to the club for next season as they wrestle with financial constraints.

The Sheffield-born defender almost left Manchester City two years ago when he was attracted to the idea of moving to Bayern Munich, who were offering him a two-year contract at a time when City’s renewal offer did not meet his expectations.

However, Guardiola convinced Walker to extend his stay at the Etihad Stadium after the latter played a key role in Manchester City’s historic 2022-23 treble-winning season, signing a new deal and committing his future to the then-crowned European champions.

As reported by Graeme Bailey writing for EFL Analysis, Sheffield United remain interested in bringing back Walker to Bramall Lane as the summer transfer window reopens on Monday to run till September 1.

Walker has often outlined his desire of returning to his boyhood club towards the end of his career over the years but with the Blades failing to secure promotion to the Premier League for the 2025-26 campaign, it remains to be seen if they will be able to pull off a deal for Walker.

Sheffield United are hopeful that Manchester City remain open to sanctioning a season-long loan for Walker, who will inevitably have to accept a major paycut to return to his former club over 15 years on from joining Tottenham from the EFL Championship side.

Manchester City would prefer to sell Walker permanently this summer as they look to trim their wage bill and offload senior stars who have failed to meet expectations in recent seasons. This is the ideal time for City to cash in on Walker, who has also attracted interest from abroad.