Manchester City are no strangers when it comes to signing players from fellow Premier League clubs.
Previous years have seen City land numerous transfer deals for players who have previous top-flight experience at fellow English sides.
One of those players is Jack Grealish, who the Blues shelled out a club-record fee of £100m to bring to the Etihad Stadium from Aston Villa back in 2021.
Having made 213 senior appearances for his boyhood club, the winger has now made 134 for Pep Guardiola’s side, winning multiple trophies in the process.
Now though, as a seasoned Premier League player, the 29-year-old has heaped praise on another figure City plucked from one of their top-flight colleagues.
Jack Grealish hails Kyle Walker for defensive power
Appearing in a recent video uploaded on the Sky Sports Football TikTok channel, Grealish said this after Kyle Walker was voted to be the toughest defender the winger has ever come up against.
He said: “He’s an unbelievable defender. Pace, strong. One-v-one he is so hard to go past.”
Bukayo Saka admits it’s a ‘tough challenge’ to beat Walker
Grealish isn’t the only Englishman to highlight how hard it can be to have the City captain as an opponent, as Bukayo Saka said this about Walker when asked which of his England teammates he has had trouble playing against previously.
He said: “I think Kyle Walker is definitely up there. If you ask most wingers, coming up against him is a very tough challenge and now most of the time, he is playing behind me, so that’s nice to have that confidence that behind you is someone so strong like that, so feel free to attack.”
City paid £50m to sign the full-back from Tottenham Hotspur back in the 2017 summer transfer window.
Since then, the 34-year-old has featured in 308 matches for the Blues across all competitions, chipping in with six goals and 23 assists.
As an opponent, Grealish has faced off against Walker on three occasions, all of which came when he was at Villa and all of which he found himself on the losing side.
Taking all of that on board, it seems likely that one of the reasons Grealish will have been thrilled to join City is because he would no longer have to come up against Walker.
