Manchester City defender Kyle Walker is flying to Milan today (Thursday) to complete his loan move to the Serie A club.
As part of the deal, Milan hold an option to make the move permanent in the summer.
The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Milan were on the verge of signing the England international and filling the club’s final non-EU player slot, effectively ending the chance of Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford joining the side.
Walker has 18 months remaining on his City contract but City manager Pep Guardiola said on January 11 that the 34-year-old had requested permission to leave the club after eight seasons at the Etihad Stadium. “Two days ago, Kyle asked to explore the options to play abroad at the end of his career,” Guardiola said after City’s 8-0 FA Cup win over Salford City.
The England international has been left out of City’s three matchday squads in all competitions since missing that FA Cup third-round tie.
GO DEEPER
The crisis of Kyle Walker
Walker joined City from Tottenham Hotspur for £50million (now $61.6m) in 2017 and has since won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups and the Champions League.
He came close to a move to Bayern Munich in 2023 and attracted interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia last summer.
“He asked two years ago after the treble, Bayern Munich I think wanted him but the offer was not good enough and I and the club (told) him how important he is,” Guardiola added.
“You cannot understand the success we have had these years without Kyle, it’s impossible, he gave us something we didn’t have, he’s been amazing.
“But now in his mind, he would like to explore already to go to another country to play the last years for many reasons, and for that reason, I played other players whose mind is here.”
Walker has made 15 appearances in all competitions so far this season, with 10 of those coming as captain, but has struggled to find his best form.
City, meanwhile, have signed three players this window. Defender Abdukodir Khusanov signed from Lens for €40m plus bonuses on Monday, teenage centre-back Vitor Reis arrived for €35m the following day and forward Omar Marmoush joined from Eintracht Frankfurt for €70m earlier on Thursday.
(Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
