Sunday’s briefing: Kyle Walker looking to leave Manchester City

Manchester City demolished Salford 8-0 to reach the FA Cup fourth round before Pep Guardiola revealed Kyle Walker has requested to leave the Premier League champions.

Brentford were the only top-flight club to come unstuck on Saturday, as the Championship’s bottom side Plymouth, who mutually parted ways with head coach Wayne Rooney on New Year’s Eve, claimed a 1-0 win.

Elsewhere, David Moyes was appointed Everton manager for the second time following the departure of Sean Dyche.

Walker getting itchy feet

Pep Guardiola’s City made light work of their League Two neighbours, with James McAtee grabbing a second-half hat-trick and Jack Grealish bagging his first goal in club football since December 2023.

But England right-back Walker was absent for the contest and when asked why, Guardiola revealed the 34-year-old has asked for a move overseas.

“Two days ago, Kyle asked to explore the options to play abroad at the end of his career,” Guardiola said.

“In his mind, he would like to explore it, to go to another country, to play the last years (somewhere else) for many reasons. For that reason, I prefer playing other players whose mind is here.”

Bees stung by Pilgrims

Plymouth were without a win since November 5 while they had not triumphed on the road since early April but they were able to put their league form to one side to shock Brentford.

With incoming boss Miron Muslic watching from the stand in west London, Morgan Whittaker’s stunning late goal helped Plymouth end an 11-match winless sequence.

Whittaker retrieved the ball on the right, easily jinked past defenders before producing a driven finish into the bottom-left corner in front of the travelling supporters.

“If we continue performances like that there’s no reason