Guardiola thinks so.
“Absolutely, one of the greatest full-backs ever,” he said. “I slept like a baby before games with Kyle there.
“He can handle top, top-class wingers in the world.”
In a lavish press conference tribute, Guardiola did not limit his purring to Walker’s defensive capability. His consistency, injury record, quality of pass and dressing room leadership were all mentioned as the manager dubbed Walker “the right-back that defined our time here”.
In Walker’s time, the Manchester club won 15 major honours, including a Champions League and two FA Cups.
Walker was also a key player in Gareth Southgate’s England team, helping the Three Lions to successive European Championship finals in 2021 and 2024, selected in both of Uefa’s teams of the tournament and named his country’s vice-captain for the latter.
None of this, though, was enough to keep Walker in the favour of current England manager Thomas Tuchel, who opted not to name the 35-year-old in his most recent squad after Walker’s last start in an England shirt ended in a shock 3-1 loss to Senegal in June.
Walker’s new club manager Scott Parker is convinced that the strong performances the defender has been putting in at Burnley have the power to change Tuchel’s mind.
“I have no doubt he can force his way and be in and around the England squad,” said Parker. “His last performance for us, he was the best out there, I thought he was absolutely immense.
“He’s been massive for us, his experience and his quality as well. We always seem to revert back to Kyle and we speak about his experience, but I think his quality is something that we’ve all seen in a short period of time.”
Influential for his country, game-changing for Premier League newcomers, but how will Walker’s legacy compare to some of the greats of the past 30 years?
Read all about the world’s best full-backs of recent times, then rank your favourites.