The 'most intelligent' player
Kyle Walker says Samir Nasri is the player he hated facing most.Nasri joined Manchester City from league rivals Arsenal in 2011, making 176 appearances during his six years at the club. He scored 27 and assisted a further 39 before leaving in 2017, the same summer Walker joined from Tottenham.Speaking on The Kyle Walker podcast, Walker said: "I used to hate playing against City when I was at Tottenham. Nasri..."If people were to say: 'OK, who is the hardest player that you've played against?', I know they would say [Kylian] Mbappe, [Sadio] Mane, Neymar, Vinicius Jr and these types of players. But, when I think about the most intelligent, who I didn't really like to be against, it would be Nasri. "He used to stand in pockets where it's very unnatural for you to go into that position. It doesn't feel normal. He kind of played number 10, so he didn't even play on the wing. So, he used to come inside. I was then: 'Do I go in and follow him? Do I leave him?' But then, all of a sudden, Gael Clichy used to be on the overlap, running in behind you. "I think that's the relationship that they built together with playing a number of years at Arsenal together. They took that to City. Whenever I came up against City, when Nasri and Clichy were playing, it was always going to be a tough game."Listen to the full podcast
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
36 minutes ago
- Metro
When does the transfer window reopen and why has it closed?
This summer's transfer dealings have been split into two windows, with the first now closed. There was a scaled down Deadline Day on Tuesday as the transfer window closed for the first time at 7pm UK time. Plenty of deals have already been done in the Premier League, with Manchester City especially busy having spent over £60m on Rayan Cherki and Rayan Ait-Nouri. Chelsea have already made a splash as well, beating a number of rivals to bring in Liam Delap from Ipswich Town. Premier League champions Liverpool have also been swift in replacing the outgoing Trent Alexander-Arnold by signing Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen. The Reds have also let back-up goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher depart for Brentford, where Mark Flekken has left for Leverkusen. The first transfer window opened on June 1, but deals can now not be done again, but only for a few days. The transfer window swings open again on Monday June 16 and will remain open until Deadline Day on Monday September 1. It will be a different Deadline Day to normal, though, as the window closes at 7pm UK time rather than the usual 11pm. The revamped Club World Cup has changed things this summer, with the tournament in America getting underway on June 15. The first transfer window was known as an 'exceptional registration period' as it was there to allow clubs involved in the competition to bring in players before the tournament. As FIFA's rules state that calendar year transfer windows cannot exceed 16 weeks, there had to be a break of a few days where it was closed. While the exceptional registration period was there to help the teams involved in the Club World Cup, all Premier League sides could use it. Antonio Cordero – Malaga to Newcastle Caoimhin Kelleher – Liverpool to Brentford Dario Essugo – Sporting to Chelsea Estevao Willian – Palmeiras to Chelesa Jeremie Frimpong – Bayer Leverkusen to Liverpool Liam Delap – Ipswich Town to Chelsea We're delighted to announce the signing of Rayan Cherki ✍️🩵 — Manchester City (@ManCity) June 10, 2025 Mamadou Sarr – Strasbourg to Chelsea Marcus Bettinelli – Chelsea to Man City Matheus Cunha – Wolves to Man Utd Rayan Ait-Nouri – Wolves to Man City Rayan Cherki – Lyon to Man City Cherki was a late signing before the window closed, arriving at the Etihad for £31m. More Trending 'This is a dream for me. Honestly, to be joining a club like Manchester City and have the opportunity to make the next step in my career here is something very, very special,' he said. 'I have worked so hard for this all my life. I love this sport, and I can't wait to develop further here in Manchester with Pep and his backroom staff. 'Everyone knows how good City are – they have been so successful for many years now. The responsibility to help the team continue winning is something I want to embrace. 'I would only leave Lyon for a project I really believe in and everything at City suggests I can develop my game and help the team be successful in the future. I can't wait to show City fans what I can do.' MORE: Liverpool hero's agent speaks out on rumoured return to Anfield MORE: Son Heung-min casts doubt over Tottenham future with response to Spurs exit link MORE: Chelsea submit new offer for Jamie Gittens as Borussia Dortmund respond
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Newcastle open talks to sign James Trafford as competition to Nick Pope
Newcastle have opened negotiations with Burnley about the transfer of the England goalkeeper James Trafford to St James' Park. The 22-year-old Trafford is the No 1 target for the Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe. An agreement has not yet been reached, however, about the size of the fee, with Burnley keen to receive a record figure for an England goalkeeper of £30 million. Newcastle would prefer the initial fee to be lower. The potential deal has been complicated by the fact that Manchester City, who sold the 6ft 6in goalkeeper to Burnley in 2023, are entitled to a sell-on clause, thought to be 20 per cent. They also retain a buy-back option as part of the deal that took Trafford to Turf Moor for an initial fee of £15million. However, it is not thought they will contest Newcastle for the player's signature. Trafford, who was born in Carlisle, almost signed for Newcastle last summer and admitted recently on the Ben Foster Podcast (Fozcast) that it would have been a 'brilliant' move for him. The transfer then was derailed late on because Newcastle were so hamstrung by the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) that they had to sign another goalkeeper, Odysseas Vlachodimos, from Nottingham Forest to facilitate the sale of Elliot Anderson to the City Ground. Vlachodimos did not start a game for Newcastle last season. Howe instead wants Trafford and Nick Pope, who will be 34 in April next year, to compete for the No1 spot at St James' Park next season. Trafford, at 22, would help Newcastle lower the average age of their squad. Newcastle will compete in four competitions next season after their qualification for the Champions League and the club is keen to begin a disciplined summer of spending after a period of sales to sidestep any potential Premier League points penalty for breaking PSR rules. Newcastle have sold four first-team players in the last two transfer windows and the £25 million departures of Miguel Almirón and Lloyd Kelly helped alleviate another repeat of last June when Anderson and Yankuba Minteh had to be sold. Trafford recorded 29 clean sheets in the Championship as Burnley gained promotion back to the Premier League. He was included in his squad by Thomas Tuchel for England's internationals against Andorra and Senegal. It is thought Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Arsenal had all shown varying levels of interests in Trafford before his likely departure from Burnley, but it is Newcastle in pole position with negotiations continuing.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Sporting Lisbon boss breaks silence on Viktor Gyokeres' future - with the Man United target 'furious over the Portuguese club's U-turn on his £84m release clause'
Sporting Lisbon boss Rui Borges refused to give too much away when asked about Viktor Gyokeres' future on Tuesday. Gyokeres, 27, has been heavily linked with Manchester United in recent days, with the Red Devils moving ahead of Arsenal and Chelsea in the race for his signature. The Swedish striker appeared to bid farewell to Sporting's fans after completing a domestic double with the club last month, but he remains with the Portuguese outfit for now. Borges attended an event on Tuesday to mark the 99th anniversary of provincial team Sport Clube de Mirandela - the club where his football journey began - and was quizzed on Gyokeres, but remained tight-lipped. 'Gyokeres? Sporting's future begins on July 1st,' Borges told reporters. 'That's all I can say and today I'm here to, above all, salute this tribute that was paid to me. That's all. I'm on vacation, I'm not here to talk about that.' Borges is not interested in talking about the future of Gyokeres for now, but the player himself is reportedly furious over how Sporting are handling his potential exit. Gyokeres has a €100m (£84m) release clause in his Sporting contract, but he is understood to have reached a gentleman's agreement with the club at the start of the season over a reduced asking price. The forward was promised that he could leave Sporting this summer for €60m (£51m), plus €10m (£8m) in add-ons, to take the overall transfer fee down to £59m. However, according to Portuguese outlet Record, Sporting's board are now seeking in the region of €80m (£67m) before allowing Gyokeres to move on. He is believed to be livid with Sporting's U-turn and feels they have failed to deliver on their promise to him. Gyokeres has responded by removing any reference to Sporting on his Instagram account, having also got rid of any mention of Sweden and Nike. United failed to get a deal over the line in the 'special' transfer window that shut on Tuesday evening, but they could return for Gyokeres when the window re-opens on later this month.
