Kyle Walker became one of Tottenham Hotspur’s biggest club sales in 2017 as he moved to Manchester City.
Man City paid around £45 million to sign Walker from Spurs following a stellar campaign at Spurs. The defender was key in helping Tottenham go a whole season undefeated at home and finish second in the Premier League.
The North London club’s supporters were gutted to see the right-back depart as he was viewed as one of the best in Europe.
At the time, it appeared as though the 34-year-old was pushing to join Pep Guardiola’s side, with Kieran Trippier coming into the team as rumours started to intensify.
However, Walker has revealed that a chat with Mauricio Pochettino convinced him to start looking for an exit route out of N17.
Kyle Walker’s ‘honest’ chat with Mauricio Pochettino
Walker has explained how Pochettino told him towards the end of the 2016/17 season that he was no longer part of his plans at Tottenham.
The England international claims that Pochettino wanted to start Trippier as his first-choice right-back heading into the new campaign.
The Champions League winner requested to leave the club and Poch was willing to let him, which he eventually did to Manchester City.
Walker told BBC Sounds: “I kind of knew Pochettino’s mind was going in a different direction, he was leaning towards Trippier.
“City spoke to my agent, I went up to the manager and said, ‘I’m not in your plans, am I?’ and he said, ‘No'”
“He said he was going to push more for Trippier next season, so I said, ‘Please can I go?’ and he said, “Well I won’t stand in your way'”.
“That was it, there was no bad blood, there were no hard feelings or anything, he was just honest and I respect him so much for that.”
Kyle Walker discusses Andre Villas Boas’ Tottenham sacking
Walker has also revealed how several members of Tottenham’s squad cried after the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas at Tottenham.
The Portugese coach was removed from the club following a poor start to the 2013/14 season as the team failed to cope with the departure of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid.
Spurs sold Bale to Los Blancos for around £86 million and signed seven new players, however, Villas-Boas failed to make them gel.
He told You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker podcast: “I’ve got tears running down my eyes… Michael Dawson is welling up. That’s how much he meant to the lads.
“Bale was a massive, massive loss. They signed seven players off the back of the Bale money. There are a lot of changes there and we just never really gelled in time for him [Villas-Boas] to then do well.
“For 10 or 12 men to be crying because the manager’s gone, he’s done something well in the dressing room.”
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