Kyle Walker has named the best players he has played with and faced, with one surprise addition standing out alongside some of his Manchester City team-mates.
The club captain first joined Pep Guardiola’s side in 2017, having previously played for Tottenham since 2009, a period interspersed with loans at Sheffield United, Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa.
But since his move to Manchester, the 34-year-old has played alongside some of football’s most impressive contemporary figures, both for his club and the England national team.
Speaking on his new podcast, You’ll never beat Kyle WalkerThe defenseman reviewed several of the best players most fans could have guessed, as well as one more honoree from left field.
“I’ve been fortunate to play with a lot of great players,” Walker began. ‘Tottenham, Gareth Bale, (Luka) Modric.
Kyle Walker (center) has appeared alongside several big names during his career.
During his time at Tottenham, Walker played with Luka Modric (left) and Gareth Bale (right)
The 34-year-old had high praise for his former Manchester City team-mate David Silva.
“I think Ledley King was very underrated. For (Thierry) Henry to say that he is the best player he has played against, you have to be doing something right, and for me, he is a very, very underrated player that I had the pleasure of playing with at Tottenham. .
‘(Former Manchester City team-mate) David Silva was incredible. You would give him a bad pass and he would make you look good.
“It would make you look better, it would make you look a better player.”
Moving on to his current team-mate, Walker cited “people like Kevins (De Bruyne): he will be considered one of the best, if not the best, midfielder in the Premier League.”
“He is one of them: he doesn’t mind giving the ball away.” He will then attempt a 40-yard pass, and if he doesn’t make it, the rule would be to say, “I won’t do that again.” He just thinks, “You know what? Damn, I’m going to do it again.”
“It’s human nature, you do something wrong, it doesn’t turn out well, you’re afraid… you’re not afraid, but you’re cautious.”
Walker wanted to mention Ledley King (centre) and described the defender as ‘underrated’
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The England international believes that getting rid of that instinct is something that has been a ‘turning point’, and highlighted that in the past ‘you were a bit afraid of making a mistake playing for England’.
“But now, the amount of talent we have in that team is incredible, and we should probably go and do something this summer,” Walker added, pointing out that there would be “a lot of partying for us” if Gareth Southgate’s team were to win the Championship. of Europe in Germany this summer.
When talking about his strongest opponents, Walker highlighted their talent for appearing “impromptu” as if they were “playing on a playground.”
“There are two people that stand out for me, which are Neymar (Jnr) and (Eden) Hazard. They were the two that… you didn’t really know what they were going to do. They were just having fun.
Describing his most talented opponents, Walker praised Neymare Jnr (pictured in 2021)
The defender described the Brazilian and Eden Hazard (pictured) as playing “spontaneous”
“And I love watching Neymar. Go to YouTube, because it’s entertainment. And only because we have a job and we care about winning, we are entertainers and they pay us to entertain.”
Walker also added that former Premier League rival Sadio Mane had been “a nightmare” for him when he was part of a “very, very good Liverpool team”.
After claiming Man City’s historic fourth consecutive Premier League title at the end of the season, Walker will now prepare to join Gareth Southgate’s side ahead of next week’s pre-tournament international friendlies.
England will play Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday and Iceland next Friday before their first match of the tournament against Serbia on June 16.