25 July 2023 , 13:12
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Pep Guardiola has vowed to continue his fight to convince Kyle Walker to snub Bayern Munich and stay at Manchester City.
Guardiola is desperate not to lose the England full-back to his former club after seeing skipper Ilkay Gundoigan and Riyad Mahrez desert him in the six weeks since City completed the treble. City face Bayern in a pre-season friendly tomorrow - and Guardiola insists he will play Walker despite reports from Germany that a deal is close for the Bundesliga champions to snatch the 33-year-old away from the Etihad.
Guardiola said: “Kyle is incredibly important for us. He has specific qualities that are so difficult to find. I don’t know what’s going to happen. Both clubs are in touch - but we will fight for him. Kyle is still our player. We need to play against Bayern with our best players and we hope he’ll stay with us for the whole season. Why shouldn’t he play?”
City have offered Walker a two-year extension on a deal that still has 12 months to run, but Bayern believe he wants to take up a new challenge abroad. Four years ago, Guardiola played Leroy Sane against Liverpool in the Community Shield when Bayern launched a charm offensive for the German winger - and he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Sane signed for Bayern a year later for a cut-price £51.5million. With Bernardo Silva pushing for a move, Guardiola is desperate to keep Walker in the fold as his departure would force him to rely on Joao Cancelo, the Portuguese defender who was loaned to Bayern in January after becoming a disruptive dressing room influence.
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Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel admitted that his club declined the chance to make Cancelo’s move permanent for £61million because it was too expensive. He said: “It was never football reasons. He (Cancelo) is a fantastic football player. It was just that we got Alphonso Davies back, full strength from injury, and we decided to sign Rapha Guerrero as a free agent.
“So it was a matter of position and a matter of finance. He helped us a lot in the half a year he played for us. He (Cancelo) is a fantastic guy and a fantastic footballer. That is why.” Guardiola has a number of pressing issues to solve. The departure of Gundogan means he is searching for a new captain for the second successive summer following Fernandinho’s return to Brazil last year.
Guardiola needs to appoint a new captain after Ilkay Gundogan left City to join Barcelona (Getty Images)Mirror Football is now on Threads!
City’s players will vote on the German’s successor - and Guardiola admitted that the uncertainty surrounding his squad means the poll will have to take place after the transfer window has closed. He said: “I’ll speak with the captains and they’ll say when. It will happen when we come back to Manchester - maybe the 31st when the squad is definitive.”
The Blues’ boss is also looking for a new assistant after Rodolfo Morrell left to become the sporting director at MLS club Austin and Enzo Maresca was appointed manager of Leicester. Former right-hand man Juan Manuel Lillo returned to Manchester to advise Guardiola at the business end of last season - and the 57-year-old is the Catalan’s No 1 choice to return. Lillo has just resigned as manager of Qatari club Al Sadd for personal reasons, but Guardiola hinted that his return to Manchester would cost City a compensation package.
He added: “I don’t know what’s happened with my assistants. I take care of them and all of the time they drop me. But I want to say thank you for these incredible years together Rodo and Enzo.” Kevin De Bruyne did some light work in training at Japan’s National Stadium and is on schedule to be fit to face Burnley on the opening day of the Premier League season.