MANCHESTER CITY DEFENDER Kyle Walker was “hurt” by Mauricio Pochettino’s reaction to his departure from Tottenham Hotspur.
Walker swapped Spurs for City at the start of last season in a deal reportedly worth an initial €50 million, going on to win the Premier League and EFL Cup in his first campaign under Pep Guardiola.
But the England international, 28, was saddened after Pochettino wrote in his book that he had disrespected his Spurs team-mates by asking to leave towards the end of the 2016-17 season, which ended in a second-place finish.
As well as disagreeing with Pochettino’s account, Walker was disappointed that his former manager’s version of what he felt was a private conversation was made public, even though he remains grateful to the Spurs boss for helping to develop him.
“He told me I wasn’t in his plans,” Walker told The Daily Mail. “I was hurt a lot by that. He said his door was always open and I thought it was a private meeting we had. So I kept quiet, but then he went and wrote about it… or his version of it.
“If he was going to do that he might as well have called a press conference and told everyone. He told one side of the story, but it’s a side of a story I don’t agree with.
“He said he had a witness in there, but he didn’t tell the correct story, no way. Up until now I have never said my part. I have stayed quiet and showed a level of respect to Tottenham and I always will.
“The manager gave me my chance to showcase my talent. But people don’t know the ins and outs of everything and it is about time I told people what happened from my side.
“I have had a few people calling me a snake and stuff. It hurts because I gave everything to that club. And everything I am now I owe to that club. So yes, it hurts when I go back there now, but I guess it’s just a part of football.”
But he added: “Mauricio was fantastic for me. I was young, needed to improve and he improved me. He taught me to look after myself, eat right and rest. I will never forget how much he did.”
Walker believes the silverware he has won so far at City vindicates his decision to move on from Spurs, who he initially joined in 2009 from Sheffield United.
He continued: “I have justified why I wanted to come to Manchester City because I have won trophies and improved. When I first signed I wondered if I had made the right decision.
“Tottenham had finished above Manchester City two years on the bounce and were going places. But because I wasn’t playing I needed to go. So I am happy now and happy back in the north. I am my mum’s only child and she missed me down south.
“It’s not the main reason to be here but this was an opportunity to head back north, get my hunger back and to discover something different. I did want to prove I could do this somewhere else. I think I have done that.”
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