I'm dissapointed to lose Walker, particularly to a rival. But realistically, Man City are not a rival. What I mean by that is that financially they are on another planet to us. I've seen a lot of people talk about us strengthening a rival, but they were always going to sign a strong right-back this summer. Walker or no Walker.
At the same time, there were rumours back as far as March that Pochettino and Walker had a disagreement over his fitness and then there were rumours that Walker was not happy that Poch was picking Trippier for all the big matches.
So you have a situation where the manager has lost faith in the player, Walker isn't particularly happy at playing second fiddle and then you have a situation where a right-backless desperate financial giant are in for a player we can sell for a huge sum and still have who has been our go-to starting right-back for big fixtures since the early part of 2017 as well as a young player who this summer became a world-cup winner at u20 level.
Everything about this transfer makes sense, removing all emotions aside. We get a record fee for a defender, who isn't a vital part of the manager's plans. Pochettino gets backed in his decisions and stances. We make room in the squad for a promising youngster and have £55m in the bank in the bargain.
I also personally think that Trippier has improved. He is tactically and situationally better than Walker, his crossing and passing is better. Walker is faster. But at 27 and having been playing footballsince he was 18, I think its the right time to sell. He has improved under Poch, but I don't think that's down to his own application and attitude, I think that's down to Pochettino's tactics where Dier or Wanyama drop to create a 3 in a 4-2-3-1 when in possession and attacking, or where we simply play 3 at the back. It means Walker's tactical, positional and brain-fart inadequacies aren't as frequently exposed as in previous regimes.
He has been a good servant and good player, but by no means perfect, a fact bourne out by the fact that Clyne has often been picked for England ahead of him and previously Glen Johnson. The money and Poch seemingly preferring Trippier means its a no-brainer.