Kyle Walker motivated to leave Man City by stark realisation | OneFootball

Kyle Walker's decision to leave Manchester City during the January transfer window is reported to have been motivated by a stark realisation.

Walker enjoyed seven and a half hugely successful years at City, winning six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups and the Champions League.

But his form suffered a nasty dip towards the end of 2024, coinciding with a dreadful run of results that have derailed the club's ambitions of an unprecedented fifth successive league title.

Walker had long held a desire to experience playing abroad, linked with Bayern Munich not long ago, while a challenging situation in his personal life may have also made the decision to pursue that now a bit easier. His exit also came after an uncomfortable conversation with Pep Guardiola.

The Athletic report that, ultimately, 34-year-old Walker "felt that he could no longer cut it at City", so when the opportunity to join AC Milan came up, he met with sporting director Zlatan Ibrahimovic and "jumped at the chance" to make the move.

Milan hold a £5m option to make the loan permanent. There is no certainty either way over whether that will be taken and Walker has another season on left on his contract with City, but his parting message last month appeared to have a finite tone, as though he doesn't expect to return.

Walker was starting to struggle for Man City / Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/GettyImages

"When I spoke with Pep, it wasn't a very comfortable conversation – mainly because of the respect we have for each other. What he's won at Manchester City, I've won it too. I like to think he knows what I bring to a dressing room, the atmosphere I create," Walker said.

"City was my family – from the cooks to the cleaners, the kit men and physios. I like to think I was liked and helped everyone blend in. But things weren't going well there and I wasn't playing enough football. Hopefully I can play a bit more [in Milan].

"I could have stayed in Manchester, I would have honoured the contract if they hadn’t let me leave because that’s me as a person. But it comes down to challenges where you think ‘OK I need to try something different’.

"I've spoken to many ex-players who never moved abroad and told me they wished they had. If it hadn’t been a big club I'd have stayed with City. There are only certain clubs you can’t say no to and this was the opportunity I wanted, I had a gut feeling."