Manchester City identify Kyle Walker replacement as uncertainty grows over England international’s future | OneFootball

Officials within Manchester City have one eye on the profile of a highly-rated right-back option this summer in the event of an exit for club captain Kyle Walker.

The veteran England international full-back has long been at the centre of transfer interest from a number of potential suitors throughout the game, and came very close to a switch to the Bundesliga last summer.

Manchester City were fielding interest from FC Bayern Munich during the last summer transfer window, and with the player interested in a switch to the Allianz Arena for both football and personal reasons, a deal was close to completion.

However, with a number of senior and high-profile exits from the Etihad Stadium, including Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez, a decision was made to retain Walker and tie the 33-year-old to an extended contract, with Pep Guardiola leading a charm offensive.

Despite staying put for the recently-concluded season, Kyle Walker’s future remans in doubt and the emergence of Saudi Arabia as a potential suitor could leave Manchester City with yet more decisions to be made.

That is according to the information of The Athletic’s Sam Lee, who states this week that there is ‘uncertainty’ around Walker’s future at the Etihad, and City would ‘step up interest’ in Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong if the England international was to leave the club.

However, the report does clarify that despite transfer interest in Walker, the expectation from within Manchester City is that few, if any, of Pep Guardiola’s first-team players will depart the squad in the coming weeks.

23-year-old Frimpong is a product of City’s youth academy, spending nine years in the north-west club’s development system have joined the club at the age of nine and progressing through the ranks, with regular appearances in Premier League 2 and UEFA Youth League.

Jeremie Frimpong would bring an end to his allegiance with Manchester City in the summer transfer window of 2019, joining Scottish Premier League giants Celtic where he excelled, before making the move to Bayer Leverkusen two years later.

The Amsterdam-born defender retains close ties to the north-west of England, with family and friends living in the Manchester region, and as such a return to City would not cause any issues on the relocation front.

Manchester City’s stance throughout the ongoing market has very much remained a case of ‘one in, one out’, and as such any movement on Frimpong will – as mentioned – hinge on the future of Kyle Walker.