After Pep Guardiola criticised John Stones for picking up an injury in January, Vital Man City looked at how frequently the 28-year-old suffered knocks each season, but he wasn’t the only Manchester City player with a bad fitness record.
Kyle Walker has featured in only half of Manchester City’s Premier League games this season, starting 10 of their 21 matches due to a groin injury while being an unused substitute at times. The 32-year-old hasn’t managed 30+ league appearances for four years either, so Vital Man City will answer why.
In his debut season (2017/18), Walker made 32 top-flight appearances and picked up a minor injury in March, but he wasn’t out of action for too long and was still on the bench in games he didn’t play in (4 times).
In 2018/19, the England international made 33 league appearances and picked up a groin injury in October, but he wasn’t out of action for too long and was still on the bench in games he didn’t play in (4 times).
In 2019/20, Walker made 29 league appearances and picked up a knock in October, but he wasn’t out of action for too long and was still on the bench in games he didn’t play in (7 times).
In 2020/21, the 31-year-old made 24 league appearances and suffered Covid in December with a knock in January, but he wasn’t out of action for too long and was still on the bench in games he didn’t play in (9 times).
In 2021/22, he made 20 league appearances and missed five games in December due to a lack of fitness. Walker missed six games in April to May with an ankle injury.
Walker has played in 149/211 league games since joining City in 2017, amassing 12445 minutes of playing time from a possible 18990.
In other news, Pep Guardiola tipped to replace ‘disrupted’ Kalvin Phillips
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