When Kyle Walker left Tottenham for Manchester City in search of silverware last summer, it’s fair to say the Carabao Cup wasn’t the height of his ambitions.
Victory over his old club at Wembley this weekend, however, will put Walker on the brink of a Premier League title to add to the winner’s medal he picked up at the national stadium when City beat Arsenal in February.
It will justify the decision he made to leave Spurs after an eight-year career that ended with two hugely promising, but ultimately barren, seasons under Mauricio Pochettino.
Strangely, the 27-year-old returns to North London at arguably the lowest point of his City career following three successive defeats that saw Pep Guardiola’s side fail to clinch the title by winning the Manchester derby last weekend and then suffer a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League.