Manchester United have already signed Man City's ideal Kyle Walker replacement

Heads were turned on Saturday evening when Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola revealed club captain Kyle Walker had asked to explore the possibility of moving on from the Etihad Stadium to play abroad.

Walker has been linked with a move away from City for around a year now and was said to be close to joining German giants Bayern Munich in the past.

The 34-year-old was not involved with the City squad during Saturday's 8-0 win over Salford City in the FA Cup third round and Guardiola confirmed Walker had asked to leave the club this month.

"It's not easy for me to say because I should tell him but he's not here," said Guardiola. "Two days ago Kyle asked to explore the options to play abroad. He asked two years ago after the Treble, Bayern Munich wanted him but the offer was not good enough.

"We cannot understand what the club had over these years without Kyle. It's impossible to imagine what we have done in these years without him. For that reason, I prefer to play other players whose mind is here.

"Maybe I'm wrong but I still am pretty convinced that there's no-one in our job that doesn't want to be where they are who can perform and be exactly what they want to be. He asked to explore, it doesn't mean it's going to happen because you never know the situation.

"I respect a lot because I'm more than grateful since he has been many years for us. His first season here, we started to win, win, win , win, win. He's been important for the national team and important for our team but he said that 'I want to explore, my mind and my heart and I want to explore it'. I don't know what's going to happen."

Italian sides Inter Milan and AC Milan have been linked with the England international full-back, while there is also said to be