England confirm Kyle Walker injury blow as Manchester City already found a replacement for the 33-year-old defender before Arsenal match clash

The most recent news about Manchester City comes from the fact that changes have been made to the England team before their friendly match against Belgium on Tuesday.

The Football Association announced that Kyle Walker, a defender for Man City, has pulled out of the England squad because he is hurt. His club teammate Rico Lewis has been called up in his place.

That’s when Walker got hurt in the first half of Saturday night’s game against Brazil. He tried to keep playing after falling, but only lasted a few minutes before Ezri Konsa from Aston Villa came on to replace him.

After the game, England manager Gareth Southgate said that the City player would be checked out in the next 36 hours because he felt “tightness.” Since then, England has announced that Walker has left the team. The fullback has now returned to City to be evaluated before a very important game against Arsenal.

Lewis, who has played one senior game for England, has been called up to the team again after being called up for the U21s during the international break. He played all 90 minutes of his first international game, which was against North Macedonia in November 2023. The score was 1-1.

So far this season, the 19-year-old has played 21 times for City. His skills allow him to play right back, defensive midfield, central midfield, and defensive midfield.

France plays Belgium at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night, and Lewis might get to play for his second country. It will be Southgate’s last chance to look at his players before he names his first Euros team for the summer event.

Walker is no longer in the team. Harry Maguire and Sam Johnstone have also quit. James Trafford, a former goalie for Man City who was brought up from the U21s, has also been called up for the first time as a senior player.

Manchester City might not have Kyle Walker for their upcoming Premier League title match against Arsenal because he hurt himself in a friendly against Brazil.

Vinicius Jr. said Kyle Walker was the best defender he had ever played against, which shows how bad the injury could be for Manchester City.

The Real Madrid winger said on Saturday, “Every time a player leaves the field hurt, it’s very sad for all of us who are there on the field.” “We want to play the best. Walker is the best defender I’ve ever played against, and it’s always a great match.” I admire him a great deal, and he admires me too. They are all fighting for their side with all their might.

Walker says he hopes his “frustrating” injury isn’t too bad, and City will hope the same thing for him so he can play against Arsenal in six days. Even though it would be terrible if he didn’t get better, Guardiola already has a plan for how to replace Walker.

Walker wasn’t in City’s “strongest XI” during the knockout rounds of the Champions League last year. He started the first leg of the round of 16 away at RB Leipzig, but he didn’t play in the second leg or the first leg of the quarterfinal against Bayern Munich because City scored 10 goals. He came on in the last two minutes of the second game, but it was already over. In the final against Inter Milan, he didn’t play for much longer.

He started both legs of the semi-final against Real Madrid and stopped Vinicius so that City could win the second leg. However, what happened in the other knockout games made him think about leaving the club for good in the summer, but he changed his mind and signed a new deal.

Walker has been almost always there for City since then, but his latest injury worry means Guardiola might go back to last season’s Champions League plan to try to beat Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday. Manu Akanji was playing so well a year ago that Walker had to sit on the bench and watch. When Akanji plays at fullback, especially when John Stones is in the lineup, he gives Guardiola something different. He can play anywhere in the back line.

Akanji can easily move to a back three because Stones can play in the middle of the field. He can also do well as a full-back. He has also shown what a good player he is by pushing into middle as Stones. In the Champions League final, Akanji moved into open space and set Bernardo free. Rodri scored from a cutback that was blocked.

“I don’t think anything good will happen here. Akanji recently said, “I don’t know if I’m going to play or not. When I’m on the field, I try to do my best.” This was after starting over Ruben Dias at Liverpool. “I was glad I could begin.” Why does the boss pick me? You should ask him. But I give it my all in practice and games.

Because of that, he has started six of the last seven games, and if Walker isn’t able to play against Arsenal, he would be the first player to step in for Walker. He started the last time the Gunners came to the Etihad, but at left back. His ability to play a variety of positions will be very helpful if the news about Walker is not good.

City can handle not having Walker for the most important game in their history. They can also handle not having him against Arsenal.