Sunday’s event apparently took place in a tavern in Wilmslow, UK. Walker, 32, was among the City players who were given two days off after Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Newcastle United. The bar’s video footage is circulating on social media.
A representative for Cheshire Constabulary told ESPN, “On March 8, Cheshire police were made aware of a video circulating on social media regarding an alleged indecent exposure in the Wilmslow area.
Investigations into the incident remain in their infancy, and no arrests have been made as of yet.
The event was deemed a private affair by the club, according to sources who spoke to ESPN. As a result, Walker has been spared disciplinary action. ESPN has reached out to City, but the club has declined to comment. Tuesday saw the England international report to training as usual.
Man City academy exits pose fresh challenge for Txiki Begiristain
The academy of Manchester City is experiencing remarkable success, but must maintain it with new people.
Jason Wilcox, the director of the academy at Manchester City, used to be irritated when his employees were recruited by other companies. However, he eventually realized that this was to be expected if they were performing well in their positions.
If the staff was entrusted with creating some of the best young footballers in the game, a task at which they were achieving growing success, why wouldn’t the teams that admired the possibilities be interested in the staff members? City’s aspiration to build a world-renowned academy extended to the non-playing personnel, and an increasing number of them have obtained prestigious professions as a result of their work at the City Football Academy.
This now includes Wilcox, who will assume the position of director of football at Southampton in the summer, leaving City in need of a new leader to advance the academy. It had been known for some time that Wilcox had his sights set on such a position – Newcastle indicated interest prior to choosing Dan Ashworth – but Wilcox’s departure is nonetheless a huge loss, given how he has elevated City’s youth program.
Shields has already gone on to become part of Chelsea’s recruitment staff after persuaded Saints to pay £45m for four City teenagers, and he will be joined at Stamford Bridge by City’s head of UK academy scouting Stewart Thompson. Sam Fagbemi has replaced Shields as the academy’s head of recruitment, although Newcastle is allegedly interested.
City has already moved to replace Thompson and its national youth scout manager Paul McLaren, who has moved to Newcastle, with Sean Murphy and Bradley Wall from Wolves. But, the position at the top is still unfilled (although Wilcox is serving out his notice), and it is the most important to get right given the significance of the position for Begiristain.
City has had success in the past by taking its time with academy hires; they felt it was worthwhile to wait for Under-23 coaches Enzo Maresca and Brian Barry-Murphy, and both moves were profitable. It has been suggested that Wilcox will be replaced by an external candidate, but whoever gets the post will be under pressure to settle in quickly and establish a good working relationship with the club’s sporting director and other first-team links.
The system is designed so that it can continue to thrive even as staff members are replaced. However, just as at the first team level, where having the structure to cope without Pep Guardiola as manager does not guarantee success can be replicated without him, saying and doing are two different things.
Having matched first-team success at academy level and produced players for City and other clubs to an unparalleled level, City managers confront a difficult job with new faces in key roles in order to continue the progression.