Manchester City left ‘surprised’ by Roy Keane picking Kyle Walker in his best-ever Premier League XI

Manchester City have been reportedly left stunned by Kyle Walker’s inclusion into Roy Keane’s best-ever Premier League XI, given his scathing criticism of the England defender in the past.

According to The Athletic, the Premier League champions were ‘considerably surprised’ to find out the Irishman selected Walker as his right-back of choice at a recent event with fellow Sky Sports pundits Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville.

Keane had previously been ruthless in his criticism of Walker, describing the 31-year-old as a ‘car crash’ and suggesting Sadio Mane was ‘up against an idiot’ when Liverpool faced City.

Roy Keane surprisingly picked Kyle Walker in his best-ever Premier League XI last month

The comments stemmed from Walker giving away a penalty for fouling the Senegal international when the two sides met at the Etihad in November 2020.

Walker tripped Mane with Mohamed Salah converting from the spot, before Gabriel Jesus equalised with 15 minutes left in the first half. 

The remarks did not go down well with the relevant people at the Etihad, who complained to Sky Sports executives last season that Keane had crossed the line. 

The Irishman had previously labelled Walker a ‘car crash’ and ‘an idiot’ after he struggled to cope with Sadio Mane when City played Liverpool in November 2020 

Walker gave away a penalty after tripping Mane as City and Liverpool drew 1-1 at the Etihad

But the England international has since been in imperious form for the Premier League leaders

Reports indicated that while City acknowledged criticism was legitimate, they felt the former United had gone too far.

As such, there were a few eyebrows raised when Keane selected Walker when he was tasked with picking his best-ever Premier League XI as he sat down with Carragher and Neville for a special episode of the latter’s The Overlap podcast.

The significant caveat was neither he nor Neville could choose any current nor past Manchester United players, meaning they had to get slightly creative with their picks.

Keane picked Petr Cech in goal, with Vincent Kompany, Tony Adams and Ashley Cole alongside Walker in his back four. Patrick Vieira and Steven Gerrard were joined in midfield by Frank Lampard, with Alan Shearer, Mohamed Salah and Thierry Henry up-front.