Kyle Walker's position for Man City and England has never been stronger after summer transfer gamble

Back in June, it felt like Kyle Walker's Manchester City career was over.

Despite winning the treble, Walker was out of favour and wasn't happy at being left out of the Champions League final starting XI. He had played in the FA Cup final a week before, but had been in and out of the Premier League side that held off Arsenal and was no longer guaranteed to start in the big games.

Shortly after the celebrations after Istanbul died down, reports emerged from Germany that Walker had an offer from Bayern Munich and that he was minded to accept it.

The move made sense - Bayern are one of the only sides who can rival City in Europe for the Champions League, and if Walker was guaranteed regular football in Munich, it would aid his case for England ahead of next summer's European Championship. Not only was Walker facing competition at City, but for England too - with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kieran Trippier and Reece James all fighting for his spot.

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When Gareth Southgate has dealt with competition for the right-back spot before, he has taken form and playing time into account. Walker knew that a decline in games for City - especially on the big stage - would put his England spot in jeopardy.

Last summer, Walker told reporters that he felt his England career was over after a foolish red card vs Iceland in 2020, which earned criticism from Southgate. But after taking a step back and looking himself in the mirror, he declared that 'nobody will retire me'. If he was going to go out, for club or country, he would do it on his terms.

It seems that Walker applied a similar mantra this summer.

However important he has been to City, he would leave if