Kyle Walker admits to being ‘biggest critic’ of Manchester City teammate despite enormous quality

Manchester City captain Kyle Walker has admitted to being the ‘biggest critic’ of the club’s attacking midfielder Phil Foden, speaking during a recent podcast appearance.

The 23-year-old is enduring yet another successful season with the Premier League champions as he becomes acclimatised to an attacking midfield role under Pep Guardiola for larger parts of the ongoing season.

Kevin De Bruyne’s injury for the first-half of the season forced the Manchester City manager into rethinking his options in the middle of the park, with Julian Alvarez also operating in a more central role for numerous contests.

Despite the continued rise of Phil Foden, both in a tactical awareness and footballing ability sense, one man within the Manchester City squad is remaining subdued on the player’s ability, insisting he continues to be critical of the player.

Speaking during his recent appearance on Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE podcast, club captain Kyle Walker admitted that while Phil Foden is ‘100 per cent’ the best young player he has ever come across in the game, he remains the Manchester City academy graduate’s ‘biggest critic’.

“I’m Phil (Foden’s) biggest critic, and I’m Phil’s biggest… I’ll praise him because I’ve said it before, he’s the best young player I’ve ever seen, EVER,” Kyle Walker began, before listing names he holds in a similar regard to Manchester City’s number 47.

“Throughout (my career), whether that be Harry Kane, Ryan Mason I think was unbelievable when he was at Tottenham, John Bostock, Dean Parrott – all these players that have come and kind of fell off, he (Phil Foden) is the best by far… 100 per cent.”

While reminiscing on his times with Tottenham Hotspur, it remains to be seen what the future holds for Kyle Walker at Manchester City, with the veteran England international linked with a number of moves away from the Etihad club in recent months.

Sheffield United continues to be a long-term goal for the 33-year-old in terms of his final top-level club having developed with the Blades in his home city, while it is widely understood that Saudi Arabia could emerge as a serious option for the right-back.

The ambitious middle-eastern football project continues to invest heavily in Europe’s top talents, and a recent understanding from within Manchester City is that Saudi Arabia could offer as much as £40 million for the defender.