Pep Guardiola addresses off-field incident involving Manchester City’s Kyle Walker

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was quizzed about Kyle Walker’s recent off-pitch incident ahead of a visit to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Walker was filmed allegedly exposing himself in a bar in Wilmslow, Manchester on a day off earlier this week, CCTV footage of which was released by The Sun newspaper.

The 32-year-old reportedly turned up on time for Manchester City training in the days that followed the incident and worked as normal with the rest of the squad in preparation for a trip to Selhurst Park on Saturday.

City are understood to have decided against taking action against Walker following the incident, deeming it a private matter on a day off – with no internal investigations being conducted by the club.

The club have made no public comment on the incident and are believed to have no intention to fine or suspend Walker, who joined the Premier League champions from Tottenham in 2017.

Talk around potential cancellation of the England international’s existing City deal, running till next summer, has been rebuffed, with Walker expected to be available against Crystal Palace this weekend.

Speaking to the press ahead of Saturday’s trip to London, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was asked to comment on the incident involving his right-back.

The Catalan said: “A private issue. We solve it internally with him (Walker). This is not the place to discuss private issues.”

Guardiola was then asked whether modern-day footballers need to be more careful when they’re out in public. “Yes definitely, completely different from years ago. They know it,” the 52-year-old added.

“When you open the door at home, they (players) need to know they will be filmed whatever they do. That is society.”

City remain five points adrift of league leaders Arsenal and will be keen to keep up the pressure on Mikel Arteta’s side, who face Fulham on Sunday afternoon.

With three victories on the spin heading into Saturday’s meeting with Crystal Palace, Guardiola will be desperate to build on City’s recent winning run ahead of next week’s all-important Champions League Round of 16 return leg against RB Leipzig.