Kyle Walker gives green light to Manchester City exit with total agreement reached

Manchester City are set to enter into negotiations with Bayern Munich over the sale of Kyle Walker, following the player’s agreement to join the Bundesliga giants.

The 32-year-old has been weighing up his options for a number of months now, while Manchester City have made attempts to retain the services of the veteran full-back beyond the ongoing transfer window.

The understanding in various quarters is that City were prepared to offer Kyle Walker a new deal in order to keep him away from the clutches of Bayern Munich, however new developments would appear to indicate that those attempts have not reaped any rewards.

As per widespread emerging reports on Friday, it is understood that Kyle Walker is now prepared to leave Manchester City after six hugely successful years at the club working under Pep Guardiola.

That is according to the information of Florian Plettenberg, who first reported that Bayern Munich have now reached a total verbal agreement with Kyle Walker, who is ready to sign for the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions having given his ‘Yes’ to the club today.

It is further stated that Bayern Munich’s next step is to find an agreement with Manchester City over a transfer fee for the player, having agreed a contract until 2025 with the option to extend by a further 12 months.

Bayern Munich officials are understood to be informed of Kyle Walker’s decision to join the club this summer, with the Bundesliga side set to start negotiations with City soon, with ideas about a transfer fee of around €15 million plus add-ons.

Additional reporting from Nathan Gissing for DiMarzio reveals that Kyle Walker is now also expected to inform Pep Guardiola of his decision to leave Manchester City ‘in the coming hours’, after agreeing to a move to join Bayern.

It currently remains unknown as to what sort of transfer fee Manchester City expect to gain from the sale of Walker, however the understanding in some quarters is that the Premier League champions will eye a sum in excess of £20 million.

Officials within the Etihad Stadium believe that fee would represent fair value for a player entering the final 12 months of their existing contractual agreement, as well as a defender firmly in the closing stages of their top-level career.

Kyle Walker will be following the footsteps of Joao Cancelo – who left Manchester City in January for Bayern Munich on an initial six-month loan deal with an option to buy set at €70 million. However, the Bundesliga giants have not activated that option.

As such, Cancelo is expected to be part of the Manchester City squad that returns for pre-season training at the City Football Academy on Monday ahead of their tour in the Far East – with Bayern Munich one of the scheduled friendly opponents.

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