Manchester City are said to be confident they can land Kyle Walker in the summer, although they may have to pay more than £30million for his signature.
Although the goalless draw against United in Thursday evening’s Manchester derby keeps City in control of a top-four finish and a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League, it has otherwise been a disappointing debut campaign for Pep Guardiola who will, for the first time in his coaching career, have no fresh silverware to polish this summer.
What the Spaniard can look forward to, though, is a handsome transfer kitty when the transfer window reopens as he looks to rebuild his squad at the Etihad Stadium.
At the top of his list are two new fullbacks. Current options include Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta, all of whom are out of contract at the end of the season, and Serbian international Aleksandar Kolarov who will turn 32-years-old in November.
Guardiola would ideally like to raid rivals Tottenham Hotspur for both Danny Rose and Kyle Walker, and whilst his chances of taking the former are remote, The Guardian believe City are growing increasingly confident they can persuade the Londoners to sell the latter.
Mauricio Pochettino will not sell any player who he wants to keep at White Hart Lane, but the Blues believe the Argentine may be willing to part with the former Sheffield United youngster so he can reinvest the receipts in further improving his own squad.
However, it is being reported that should Spurs agree to sell Walker, they will demand more than the £30million Manchester United paid Southampton for Luke Shaw in 2014. Considering the right-back is only 26-years-old and has the best years of his career ahead of him, such a price tag is unlikely to prevent Guardiola from moving for the England international.
