I thought I had him’ – Kyle Walker admits he was beaten ‘fair and square’ by Adama Traore in recent sprint race as Man City star explains how he should have defended against Fulham forward

During Fulham’s clash with City, Adama went toe-to-toe with Walker, as two of the quickest players in the league faced off. During the encounter, Walker was amazingly outpaced by Adama, despite the England right-back having a head start, as the Spaniard went through on goal. It is not a common occurence for Walker to be sprinted past, and he has now opened up on the encounter.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Walker admits he tried to use his arm to hold Adama off as he began to motor past him, but the former Wolves man was simply too strong. Fortunately for the right-back, Adama couldn’t finish, but the Englishman insists he will “remember” being beaten.

  WHAT WALKER SAID

  “I mean Adama Traore would beat me, quite comfortably, I want to address it,” Walker said on the BBC’s You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker podcast. “I just base myself on that I’m quick, I thought that I had him, it’s not an excuse, he beat me fair and square, but I’m going to remember it.

  “My arm should have come across but you know when I start running backwards [towards goal], nine times out of ten people just stop but he obviously backs himself so much, just like I do, he’s thought, ‘I can actually catch this’. And next minute he’s actually in front of me and I’ve tried to give him the arm to try to claw a little bit back, he’s that strong. From what I’ve seen he could be up there with me. [Micky] Van de Ven is so quick, he’s about 6ft 7in and his stride is incredible.

  “It’s not bad in 18 years, first time someone can actually say, probably [Ousmane] Dembele, I used to get that clip all the time when I’ve sprinted to him when we played France away, I sprinted to him and he’s actually already running the other way and everybody’s clipping it, ‘oh my gosh, Kyle Walker just got smoked’. But that’s not a bad reaction for them to be that surprised, I’m obviously doing something right.”

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Walker will next be in action when City play Southampton this weekend. Adama, meanwhile, will hope to be involved when Fulham play Everton at Goodison Park.