Kyle Walker has named the best players that he’s ever played with and faced off against – with a surprise addition making the grade alongside some of his Manchester City team-mates.
The club captain first joined Pep Guardiola‘s side in 2017, having previously played at Tottenham since 2009 – a spell 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 the game’s most impressive contemporary figures, for both his club and in the England set-up.
Speaking on his new podcast, You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker, the defender ran through a number of top players most fans might have been able to guess, as well as one more left-field honouree.
‘I’ve been fortunate to play with a lot of great players,’ Walker began. ‘Tottenham, Gareth Bale, (Luka) Modric.
Kyle Walker (centre) has featured alongside a number of top names during his career
During his stint 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 so underrated. For (Thierry) Henry to say that he ‘s the best player that he’s played against, you’ve got to be doing something right, and for me, he’s 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’d give him a bad pass, and he’d make you look good.
‘He’d make you look the best, he made you look a better player.’
Moving onto current team-mate, Walker cited ‘the likes of the Kevin (De Bruyne) – he will go down as one of the best, if not the best midfielder in the Premier League.
‘He’s one of them ones – he doesn’t mind giving the ball away. So he’ll try a 40-yard pass, and if it doesn’t succeed the norm would be to say, “I’m not doing that again”. He just thinks, “you know what, sod it, I’m just going to do it again”.
‘It’s human nature, you do something wrong, it doesn’t do well, you’re scared – not scared, but you’re cautious.
Walker was keen to bring up Ledley King (centre) and described the defender as ‘underrated’
Kevin De Bruyne was named as one of the best defenders in the history of the Premier League
The England international believes that shaking off that instinct is something that has been a ‘turning point’, and stressed that in the past, ‘you used to be little bit scared to go make a mistake playing for England.’
‘But now, the amount of talent we’ve got in that team is incredible, and we probably should go and do something this summer,’ Walker added, noting that there would be a ‘lot of parties for us’ if Gareth Southgate’s side were to win the European Championship in Germany this summer.
When discussing his strongest opponents, Walker highlighted their talent for appearing ‘off the cuff’ as if they were ‘playing in a playground’.
‘There’s two people that stand out for me, which is Neymar (Jnr) and (Eden) Hazard. They were the two that – you didn’t really know what they were going to do. They were just enjoying themselves.
When describing his most talented opponents, Walker praised Neymare Jnr (pictured in 2021)
The defender described the Brazilian and Eden Hazard (pictured) as playing ‘off the cuff’
‘And for me, I love watching Neymar. Go on YouTube – because he’s entertainment. and just because we’re in a job and we care about winning, we are entertainers, and we’re paid to be entertaining.’
Walker also added that former Premier League opponent Sadio Mane had been ‘a nightmare’ for him when he was part of a ‘very, very good Liverpool side’.
After claiming Man City’s historic fourth-consecutive Premier League title at the end of the season, Walker will now prepare to link up with 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 ahead of their tournament curtain-raiser against Serbia on June 16.
