Footage has emerged of Kyle Walker raging at Pep Guardiola in the dressing room after a defeat to Liverpool, an exchange that left the Catalan manager in tears.

Guardiola, considered one of the greatest managers in football history, left Manchester City this summer following a highly successful 10-year spell.

However, despite all the success he had at the club, it wasn’t always plain sailing for Guardiola. The 2024/25 campaign was particularly difficult for the club.

In that season, Man City failed to win the Premier League as they finished third, they finished runners-up in the FA Cup, were knocked out of the EFL Cup in the fourth round and were eliminated from the Champions League at the playoff stage.

Tensions were high during the campaign and new footage has now emerged of Walker and Guardiola clashing in the dressing room.

Kyle Walker Hits Back at Pep Guardiola

REUTERS/Issei Kato

In December 2024, Man City were beaten by Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield. A new Amazon Prime documentary series titled ‘A Beautiful Obsession’, which follows Guardiola’s final two years at the club, captured the now 55-year-old clashing with Walker in the dressing room after the match.

In a clip that has gone viral on social media, Guardiola says to his players: “In that situation when Ruben [Dias] comes to the ball, you have to feel that if you lose the ball, it’s a goal. And when the ball comes to Kyle [Walker], Kyle has to know that if you lose the ball, it’s a goal.”

Walker then interjects: “I react to someone. If you keep saying my name in every meeting in every f****** thing, you’re going to get a reaction. Every f****** meeting it’s my name. I’ve reacted to someone else, I’ve lost the ball, you somehow bring my name into it.”

The Englishman then suggested that Guardiola did want him to be captain.

Guardiola replied: “But if you take it personally Kyle, I am sorry. It will be my defeat. After nine years together, with what we’ve won, in the good moments and the bad moments, it is my defeat. It is my defeat. Absolutely. More than anything else.”

He then struggled to hold back the tears as he added to the room: “If I am a problem, you have to tell me. I won’t stay here for the money or just for the fact of staying. I extended the contract because I want to be with you, I want to fight in that position.

“I don’t want you to feel like I’m leaving and running away from you. I don’t want to have the feeling that the pieces fall down. And I feel ‘No, I want to help you.’

The clip then ends with Guardiola walking away from his players.

Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith

Walker completed a temporary move to AC Milan a few weeks later. He left the club on a permanent basis at the end of the 2024/25 season as he joined Burnley.

The 36-year-old is being blasted by football fans, with many thinking he showed disrespect to his manager.

One said: “Walker was such a bad captain. It is so upsetting to see him disrespect Pep like this,” while another commented: “Who does he think he is? Glad he got ran out the club.”

A third wrote: “I would have kicked Walker out.” A fourth stated: “Walker is the worst captain this club has ever produced”, while a fifth said: “What a disgrace Kyle is man.”

Manchester United could yet add a brand-new striker to their ranks this summer, though this hinges on the future of Joshua Zirkzee, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Red Devils signed Benjamin Sesko for around £74 million last summer, and the Slovenian enjoyed a promising debut campaign at Old Trafford, netting 12 goals across all competitions. However, after Michael Carrick’s side qualified for the Champions League, the former RB Leipzig man will need genuine cover and competition next term.

Zirkzee, who started just five Premier League games last season and scored just two goals, is currently Sesko’s only competitor, but interest from teams in Serie A could ignite United’s search for a more productive centre-forward.

Multiple suitors have contacted the north-west club regarding the Dutchman’s situation, although it remains to be seen whether they will make a move for the former Bologna man.

Man Utd Could Sell Joshua Zirkzee This Summer

Zirkzee has endured a torrid time at Old Trafford since his move from Bologna in the summer of 2024.

He’s scored just nine goals in 75 appearances across all competitions, and has subsequently been relentlessly linked with an exit.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, transfer guru Romano revealed that there is interest in the 25-year-old and that a sale on this front would likely prompt United back into the market for another striker.

“There is some movement around the Manchester United striker,” he said.

“There is some interest again from Italy, and if Manchester United, from now to the end of the window, decide to let Joshua Zirkzee go with a big loss. Eventually, there could be movements for the Dutch striker. So let’s see what’s going to happen there.

“Every single window there is movement, and then he ends up staying. Let’s see what’s going to be the case in this story, in this transfer window for the Dutch striker, who is appreciated by several clubs.

“Eventually, for Man United, it would be one more surprise because the striker position was not something they were prioritising in this window. The focus was more on left-back, eventually a midfielder. But if Zirkzee goes, the striker could be another position, a surprise position, to follow.”

While, as Romano alluded to, left-back is the priority, United will surely have a shortlist of striker targets up their sleeves. They will be prepared for the potential exit of Zirkzee and will likely already have initiated contact with certain clubs about players’ situations.

Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen has been loosely linked with the Red Devils, while Real Madrid’s Endrick has also been mooted as a target, although the Brazilian is expected to stay at the Bernabeu for now.

If developments emerge on a potential Zirkzee departure, a host of names are likely to surface as United targets.