"I'm still mad at him. Very angry. After last week's 0-0 draw with Sporting Portugal, Manchester City boss Guardiola made no secret of his anger when it came to Kyle Walker. The right-back was sent off for a red card in City's last Champions League group game, a game in which the Blue Moon also lost 1-2 to Leipzig. With eight minutes to go, Walker brought down Andre Silva and was sent off. In fact, this match did not have much impact on City's group qualifying situation, as Guardiola's side had already determined the top position in Group A before the game. The 31-year-old was suspended for three games in the Champions League, which City appealed and Guardiola was not happy with. "He should be suspended for three games. When a player does something stupid, he deserves to be punished. Even after being punished by UEFA, Walker was reprimanded by Guardiola.
Since that red card against a Bundesliga side, Walker has started just seven of the 18 games in which the Premier League champions are defending. If Ruben Díaz is in good health, he is unlikely to play in the recent Manchester derby, after all, another centre-back, Stones, has played as a right-back on several occasions in both the league and the Champions League. "Kyle is very important to us – you saw him play against Manchester United," Guardiola continued, but even so, it's hard to improve his impression of you after you find yourself caught by the Spaniard. While Walker was important to City during his time at Guardiola, the team needs to continue to improve – could it be the start of the defender's farewell moment at the Etihad Stadium?
City's current problem is that they have few better options at right-back. Yes, Cancelo can play here, but for most of the 18 months he was on the other side of the line. If Cancelo starts at right-back, Zinchenko will have a chance to consolidate his starting position at left-back. Even so, however, it will only leave two excellent full-backs in the squad, and while Stones and Nathan Acre can play as right-back and left-back respectively, a City-level team needs high-quality bench prowess. So will City use this summer to bring Walker his long-term replacement?
He turned 32 at the end of May and has two more years left to complete his current contract at the Etihad Stadium. The point is that in the process of his fading from the starting table, the team won 10 of the 11 games, conceding four goals in the process, three of which were in the 6-3 win over Leicester City, which was a mess. City did lose an attacking threat on the right when Walker didn't play a role, but the reverse: with Stones providing extra defensive cover, the defending champions effectively utilized the defence of three defenders in possession. This gives Cancelo more authority to support attacks, as evidenced by his recent skyrocketing media ratings.
When Egan Reilly played the full 90 minutes at right-back against Sporting Portugal, the 19-year-old impressed on his Champions League debut, and it was perhaps a moment to look to the future. City do have an excellent youth academy, and the appearance of the teenager, who didn't look calm last week, added to Guardiola's options in the defender position. Of course, it's too early to make a judgment about Edgan Reilly, but his performance, combined with Stones' performance at right-back in Walker's absence, suggests that this year is likely to be the year City want to give up the England star. That's not necessarily because Walker is downhill, even though he's going through the worst Premier League season of his career, but Guardiola knows it's time to replace the England international in the near future. If they want to recoup some of the cost they paid to buy Walker for £45m in 2017, this summer could be their last chance.
The red card against Leipzig gave Guardiola a good excuse to leave Walker forever, however, given their form in the case of former Tottenham hotspur players leaving the team, it also supported any potential decision to seek other options. In isolation, it was a stupid red card, but this red card may be tolerated by other managers who are not as demanding as Guardiola, but overall, this off-the-road appearance could cost him his future in Manchester.