Manchester City are reportedly in talks with Bayern Munich over the potential sale of defender Kyle Walker.
The 33-year-old has won 14 trophies during his six-year spell at the Etihad Stadium, including five Premier League titles, four EFL Cups, two FA Cups, two Community Shields and the Champions League.
Walker has made a total of 254 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions, including 31 starts in 39 matches during the treble-winning 2022-23 campaign.
The England international was dropped by Pep Guardiola for a brief period before earning back his regular starting place in the second half of the season, starting 11 of City's final 13 matches.
However, Walker was a notable absentee from the first XI that Guardiola selected for the Champions League final against Inter Milan last week, and the right-back came on as a substitute for the final eight minutes.
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The Athletic reports that there is a high chance that Walker, who has just one year remaining on his contract, will leave Man City this summer, with the defender keen to have assurances over playing time ahead of representing England at Euro 2024.
The report adds that Walker is now in talks to leave the English and European champions for perennial Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich, managed by Thomas Tuchel.
It is understood that the deal is not close to completion and there is still work to be done before negotiations can reached an advanced stage, but both clubs should have few problems agreeing a transfer fee.
Bayern have decided to step up their interest in Walker after opting against a permanent move for Man City's Joao Cancelo, who spent the second half of the 2022-23 season on loan with the Bavarian giants.
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Tuchel's side have chosen not to activate the €70m option-to-buy clause included in Cancelo's deal and the Portugal international, who made 21 appearances including 15 starts for the German giants, is now set to return to the Etihad where he faces an uncertain future.
Cancelo, who has been linked with Arsenal, is not the only full-back who could depart the Allianz Arena this summer as Benjamin Pavard is understood to have expressed his desire to seek pastures new after four seasons in Bavaria.
Lucas Hernandez is also believed to be open to a summer exit and has been linked with a possible big-money move back to his homeland to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.
As for Man City, it remains to be seen whether Guardiola will look to recruit a new right-sided defender should Walker join Bayern, with John Stones, Manuel Akanji and 18-year-old Rico Lewis among those who competed with the Englishman for regular starts in 2022-23.
The Citizens are looking to bolster their options on the left side of defence, though, as a recent report claims that the treble winners are making positive progress in negotiations to sign RB Leipzig's Josko Gvardiol.
Oliver Thomas
