Micah Richards suggests £45m player has improved so much after leaving Tottenham
Micah Richards has suggested that Kyle Walker has improved dramatically after leaving Tottenham Hotspur.
Richards has been speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast and hailed Walker as the most improved player he’s ever seen.
Walker swapped Tottenham for Manchester City back in 2017 as he completed a £45 million move to the Etihad Stadium.
It’s fair to say that Spurs have struggled to replace the Englishman since, with the likes of Serge Aurier and Kieran Trippier failing to fill the void left by Walker before being moved on.
Pedro Porro has shown plenty of promise since joining from Sporting Lisbon back in January, but he’s still very much a work in progress.
And Walker was in a similar boat during his time at Spurs, before he really managed to kick on under Mauricio Pochettino.
Yet, Richards feels he’s improved his game even further under Pep Guardiola’s guidance.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Richards hailed Walker’s development and labelled him the best English right-back of all time.
He said: “Can we talk about Kyle Walker? He’s the most improved player, I think I’ve ever seen. In terms of when he was at Spurs… well, let’s go right back – Sheffield United.
“I watched him in a game and he was electric, just pace. Now, he hasn’t got any slower but his final third in terms of delivery needed a lot of work.
“I wouldn’t say he was always out of position but he was using his pace to get out of position.
“Now he can go into three at the back but he can still play high and wide as a full-back. I just think he’s a complete full-back. I think he is the greatest ever England full-back.”
Walker has improved dramatically over the past few seasons and that is largely down to his spell at City.
Of course, he excelled during his time at Tottenham but he has become a world-class operator after leaving.
The 31-year-old still had the odd mistake in his game at Spurs but he has developed into an unbelievably consistent full-back.
