It is typical of Thomas Tuchel to give Pep Guardiola a problem he wasn't expecting.
Manchester City were aware that they could have to negotiate with Bayern Munich when they sent Joao Cancelo to Julian Nagelsmann's side in January with a high option to buy, but now Kyle Walker is the senior full-back likelier to head to the Allianz. While a Cancelo who burned his City bridges prepares to try to come back into the fold for pre-season, Walker has had talks with Bayern over a summer move and may soon be packing his bags.
This is not a headache City would have wanted, but is one their set-up makes inevitable. Contrary to myth, Guardiola does not have a huge squad but does have 14-16 players who could start anywhere so when they spend more time on the bench than they would like it is natural that they look elsewhere; it must have been hard for Walker to sit out the Champions League final, but he was also overlooked for much of the season before that.
Walker's camp were keen to paint his move to City back in 2017 as a British record sum and potential world-record for a defender, and the possibility of adding to his medal collection and enhancing his legacy through a different league is very appealing. As well as Cancelo, Walker is not short of people to ask about life at Bayern in Germany given his relationships with Leroy Sane, Jude Bellingham, and Jadon Sancho.
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It is also easy to see why Tuchel wants Walker at Bayern. The regular thorn in Guardiola's side was not able to have the immediate impact he wanted after replacing Nagelsmann in March and as he tries to bring in more of his players Walker is right up his street with his incredible discipline on the pitch and ability to read situations.
City do not like to stand in the way of their players who want to leave but, as they showed when Bayern were trying to sign Sane in 2019, only if the price is right. Bernardo Silva, for example, is available again to interested clubs but will not be leaving if there is not an acceptable offer for him.
Finding a price that both clubs are happy with currently looks like the vital part of the deal, given Walker is open to moving. It is on this point that the two heavyweights may well clash.
Bayern are not used to paying significant sums for players owing to their complete monopoly of the Bundesliga - Dortmund's Raphael Guerrero is the latest free signing from their rivals - and will not expect a premium on a 33-year-old with one year left on his contract. City, though, happy to pay upwards of £30m for Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic in the same contractual situation and conscious of a shortage in bodies at the back, will not want to strengthen a rival on the cheap whatever it is they feel they owe the player.
With uncertainty over the future of a number of first team players already, Bayern have put City in another awkward spot as they try to finalise their summer plans for the transfer market.
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