Man City 'open to £15m bids' for club legend amid Saudi Arabia contract reveal

The 34-year-old has been a stalwart of Pep Guardiola's setup for several years now, but he has lost his place as an undisputed starter to "special talent" Rico Lewis at the start of the 2024-25 season.

Only four of Walker's seven appearances this term have come from the first whistle, and the former Tottenham Hotspur man was an unused substitute in clashes with Chelsea and Inter Milan earlier this term.

Walker is also not expected to start Sunday's game against Premier League basement boys Wolverhampton Wanderers, and there is a consensus that his time at the Etihad may be nearing its natural end.

The defender was persistently linked with a move to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023, only to perform a U-turn on his stance and sign a new contract at Man City, where his current terms run until 2026.

Walker emerges as target for Saudi giants?

However, the Daily Star reports that Walker is not expected to be given another contract extension by the Premier League champions, who are open to selling him on the cheap when the summer transfer window rolls around.

A fee of around £15m could supposedly be enough for Man City to part ways with Walker, as there are no talks over his future in the diary, and the Citizens want to avoid losing him for nothing in 2026.

Saudi Pro League titans Al-Ahli - who employ Walker's former teammate Riyad Mahrez alongside Edouard Mendy, Roberto Firmino, Ivan Toney, Franck Kessie and Gabri Veiga - are apparently leading the race to sign the ex-Tottenham man in 2025.

The report claims that Al-Ahli would be prepared to hand Walker a mammoth £400,000-a-week contract to make the move to the Middle East, and he would find it difficult to turn down such a lucrative pay packet in the latter stage of his career.

However, Walker's proposed switch to Saudi Arabia would scupper Sheffield United's hopes of reuniting with their former youth star, who has also been plagued by off-field relationship problems in the past couple of years.

A breakdown of Walker's Man City achievements

Since leaving Tottenham for £44m in the summer of 2017, Walker has continued to go from strength to strength under the wing of Guardiola, establishing a reputation as one of the best one-on-one full-backs on the planet.

The England international has scored six goals and set up 23 more in 308 matches for the reigning Premier League champions and has collected 17 pieces of silverware in Manchester, including six top-flight titles.

Walker has also won the Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup, in addition to two FA Cup titles, four EFL Cup crowns and two Community Shields in sky blue.

Individually, the 34-year-old has made the PFA Team of the Year on two occasions while representing Man City, as well as being named in the FIFA FIFPRO World XI for 2023.