Kyle Walker Included ‘Underrated’ Tottenham Icon Among His 5 Greatest Teammates.
Kyle Walker has named Tottenham Hotspur cult hero Ledley King as one of the five best teammates he has had in his career.
Walker joined Spurs in 2009 after a season with his boyhood club, Sheffield United. After two loan spells to develop, Walker soon became a crucial player for the North London side upon his 2011 return. After six years of consistent games for Spurs, Walker moved back up north to join Manchester City.
In seven years of service, Walker helped fire City to six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and four Carabao Cups. Best of all, the England international won the Champions League with City in 2023 as part of a European treble. Earlier this month, it was announced that Walker had joined AC Milan on loan for the remainder of the season after asking to leave the club. Presumably, the defender’s Manchester City chapter is now closed.
When asked who the best players he has played with have been on his BBC podcast, You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker, the full-back said:
“At Tottenham – Gareth Bale, Luka Modric, and I think Ledley King was so underrated. For Thierry Henry to say he’s the best player he’s played against, you’ve got to be doing something right.
“(At Man City) David Silva was incredible. You gave him a bad pass and he made you look good. He made you look a better player.
“Kevin (De Bruyne) will go down as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League. He doesn’t mind giving the ball away. He’ll try a 40-yard pass and if he doesn’t succeed, the norm would probably say ‘I’m not doing that again’, but he’ll think ‘I’m just going to do it again’.”
Modric moved to Real Madrid in 2012, just one year before Bale joined him in the Spanish capital. A transfer to a club of Madrid’s stature, combined with their tenures at the club, are clear indications of how great the duo are as players, or were, in Bale’s case, given the Welshman is now retired.
King, meanwhile, was a one-club man, spending the entirety of his career with Spurs. Though he had well-documented struggles with injury, King has long been cited as one of the Premier League’s best defenders by his peers, with Walker now another to have given credit to the centre-back.
The final two of Walker’s five best teammates were players that he played with solely at Man City. David Silva was a mercurial attacking midfielder and while the Spaniard had a keen eye for goal, it was his playmaking for which he was adored. Silva had a natural knack for unlocking defences in a way that so many struggle to do.
Kevin De Bruyne, meanwhile, is now in his 10th year as a Man City player, having joined the Sky Blues in 2015 from Wolfsburg. The Belgian has developed into one of the world’s best midfielders and alongside Walker, has served as a crucial player for Pep Guardiola in numerous seasons.
