Kyle Walker's new Man City role means he's now one of Pep Guardiola's most important players

Manchester City are having their busiest transfer window since 2017, a summer when a number of key players joined the club and deadwood was shipped out.

Bernardo Silva arrived from Monaco and after taking a season to settle in, became one of City's - and the Premier League's - best attackers. Ederson was also brought in, a goalkeeper who enabled Pep Guardiola's side to build attacks from the back in a way never seen in this country before.

However, perhaps the most important, and arguably underrated, signing of 2017/18 was Kyle Walker. Signed for an initial fee of £45m rising to £50m with add-ons, there was at the time some skepticism of the decision to spend so much money on a full-back who, in many people's eyes, was fast and not much else.

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His doubters felt justified when 44 minutes into his home debut Walker was sent off, the second of two yellow cards in two minutes highlighting that he had some way to go to become the mature, reliable full-back Guardiola needed. But that is exactly what he became.

The now 32-year-old England international has been one of City's key players since he arrived at the Etihad Stadium, and is arguably the player who has improved the most under Guardiola's instruction. It may seem strange that a right-back could be a team's most important player, but a closer inspection of Walker's game reveals just why he is.

The ultra-attacking way that City play, playing a high defensive line with plenty of bodies committed forward with the full-backs tucked inside, means they are vulnerable to well-worked counter-attacks When those situations arise, Walker effectively plays the role