319-appearance Manchester City star omitted from squad for ‘tactical’ reasons in shock decision

Kyle Walker was left out of Manchester City’s squad to face Salford City in the FA Cup third round for ‘tactical’ reasons.

The veteran full-back, who has been the subject of criticism in recent weeks after Manchester City’s poor run of results, was absent from the Sky Blues’ squad for Saturday’s FA Cup third round clash against Salford City at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City cruised to victory against the League Two outfit on Saturday evening, with Salford City owned by former Manchester United stars Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, and Paul Scholes.

Academy graduate and fan favourite James McAtee scored a hat-trick during an 8-0 thrashing on Saturday evening, with Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Divin Mubama and Nico O’Reilly also all on the scoresheet.

Pep Guardiola’s substitutes bench for the fixture included a number of first-team stars, although the absence of club captain Kyle Walker from the squad raised a number of eyebrows pre-match.

Walker has started just 11 matches for Manchester City this season, and the club captain hasn’t started a fixture since the Blues’ dismal 1-2 loss to Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium in mid-December.

The future of the Englishman beyond the current season has been plunged into doubt in recent weeks, with the 34-year-old’s omission from the squad for Saturday’s FA Cup third round fixture only likely to intensify talks of a potential Etihad exit.

Journalist Paul Hirst of The Times newspaper revealed that the absence of the right-back was due to ‘tactical’ reasons, with the defender not ruled out of the FA Cup fixture as a result of injury or illness.

The 34-year-old has been the subject of previous interest from the Saudi Pro League, and Walker’s omission from the matchday squad against Salford City additionally comes amid the backdrop of Manchester City pursuing the signatures of two new defenders.

Guardiola is pushing to add a new trio to his squad this month, and is on the verge of securing the services of Abdukodir Khusanov, who is set to complete a move to east Manchester from Lens.

The Blues are also pushing to sign 19-year-old centre-back talent, Vitor Reis from Palmeiras and the versatile Egyptian star forward, Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt during the January transfer window.