Pep Guardiola still wants Kyle Walker at Manchester City, Bayern Munich growing frustrated

Bayern Munich still haven’t been able to complete the signing of Manchester City’s Kyle Walker even after reports had suggested the England international had already informed Pep Guardiola that he wanted to leave. Earlier this summer, there was a possibility that Benjamin Pavard could be involved in a swap deal for Walker between Bayern and City, but nothing materialized on that front, even though Pavard has maintained that he does want to leave Bayern this summer.

Walker has already rejected an initial contract extension offer from City as his current contract is set to expire in June 2024, but The Athletic’s Sam Lee has reported that the recent treble-winners have tabled a second extension offer for the right back (via @iMiaSanMia). Guardiola is still confident he can get the England international to sign a new deal this summer, even with the recent signing of Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig, and this has left Bayern growing increasingly frustrated. They’re also still desperately trying to get a deal finalized to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur, so the proverbial plate is quite full.

Per Sam Lee, there is a growing concern at Bayern that Walker will eventually sign a new, long-term deal at City, missing out on the opportunity to sign him for what was initially reported as a fee of around €20m. Last month, it was reported that personal terms had already been agreed upon between Walker and Bayern, but that City and Bayern just needed to negotiate an appropriate transfer fee, but now City’s confidence in keeping Walker has grown.

After City’s 2-1 friendly win over Bayern in Tokyo, Japan, Walker also refused to answer a question when he was asked about a potential move to Bayern this summer — whether that’s any sort of indication of what his intentions are or not for this summer.

Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

“We’re going to fight for Kyle – but Bayern are doing that too. He’s an incredibly important player for us. He has qualities that are so hard to find in the world,” Guardiola had said recently in a press conference, making it clear that he’s ready to do what it takes to get Walker to stay and not leave for Bayern (Bild).

For Bayern, gaining Walker and losing Pavard would have balanced out, but now they face the prospect of losing one, and missing out on the other. If Walker falls through, they’ll be left with Noussair Mazraoui and Josip Stanisic in the ranks at right back, but that might not be sufficient enough for Thomas Tuchel.