Manchester City identify three names as potential Kyle Walker replacements | OneFootball

Premier League champions Manchester City have already began work on identifying their long-term replacement for the ageing Kyle Walker, according to reports.

The 34-year-old is firmly into the final years of his top-level professional playing career, and some onlookers have already noticed declines in his overall performance levels when called upon by Pep Guardiola this season.

The Manchester City manager has recently pointed towards fitness struggles endured by the club captain this season, restricting the experienced defender to only a handful of complete training sessions across the campaign.

Walker’s struggles to reach full fitness and match sharpness have opened a vacancy in the right full-back position, but have also in-turn placed a significant level of responsibility on 19-year-old Rico Lewis, who is also experiencing fatigue in his own game.

With Kyle Walker certainly not getting any younger, and the prospect of an exit from Manchester City amid interest from Saudi Arabia growing as a possibility, the club have now been linked with a number of potential successors to the veteran defender.

According to the information of TBR Football’s Graeme Bailey, Premier League champions Manchester City are already doing their homework on Espanyol’s Omar El Hilali as a potential replacement for Kyle Walker in their defence.

While the 21-year-old has reportedly caught Manchester City’s eye while being scouted, the report also points out that Premier League rivals Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion are monitoring the Moroccan defender.

Elsewhere and Manchester City are also admirers of Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong, according to Bailey’s report, while it is pointed out that AS Monaco’s Vanderson is also of interest.

El Hilali – who rejected the opportunity to sign for FC Barcelona earlier in his young career – has emerged as Espanyol’s leading starter at right-back, and holds an ability to rotate into other positions across the back-four, which would certainly appeal to Manchester City.

Jeremie Frimpong remains highly-rated within the club having featured for Manchester City’s youth academy during his earlier years, before leaving for Scottish Premier League champions Celtic in search of consistent first-team opportunities.

As for the 23-year-old Vanderson, the former Gremio star made the switch to Europe during the winter market of 2022, joining Monaco in an €11 million deal and seeing his reputation develop to a point where the Ligue 1 side could generate a healthy profit on the defender.