Manchester City defender Kyle Walker has revealed his clash with Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover was over a handshake.
Jover has previously worked for City but the pair are not on good terms due to a previous incident when the German refused to shake Walker’s hand. When the defender did the same thing after the defeat at the Emirates, it led to the aforementioned bust-up on the pitch. Walker has said that he did overreact and he will extend an olive branch to Jover once he returns from England duty:
“I don’t like losing. A couple of matches before, Nico did not want to shake hands when we beat them. When we lost, he wanted to shake my hand and I did not take it lightly.”
“I will probably reach out to him. It was probably a bit too much. It was a big match there and losing in the way we did and so late on hurt.”
The captain’s armband comes with responsibilities
Walker was captain against Arsenal and you would hope the 33-year-old would set a better example for his fellow teammates with his behaviour.
Even so, the fact that the fullback says he will apologise does demonstrate his maturity. It does sound like a rather petty dispute between the pair.
City need to refocus after a poor run of form
The Premier League champions were not at their best before the international break, with defeats to Newcastle, Wolves and Arsenal coming in quick succession.
Manager Pep Guardiola will be hoping that his team can use the 2-week gap between domestic fixtures to reset. They don’t have an easy game this weekend, though, as they take on Brighton at the Etihad.
