Walker discusses his almost-departure from Manchester City for Bayern and his decision to remain at Etihad Stadium

Kyle Walker has disclosed for the first time how close he was to signing a new contract deal with treble-winning Manchester City and staying with Bayern Munich this summer.

In response to the news that he will be staying, the former Tottenham Hotspur player challenged his teammates to dominate the Premier League as City's 2017–18 club did in order to make history by being the first team to win the league four times in a row.

After Pep Guardiola left the 33-year-old England defender off the roster for the Champions League final in June, it didn't seem probable that he would still be at the Etihad Stadium striving for that historically rare accomplishment.

“It was close but in football things can happen,” said Walker, who also confirmed he went for dinner with Guardiola before committing his future. “Decisions can be made. Things can turn. It wasn't meant to be.

“Would I have enjoyed the experience? Of course I would have done. But this club is a great club and you can't underestimate what this club has done in the last six or seven years.

“Everyone goes back to the Champions League final; of course I was disappointed because as a professional you want to play in the big games.

“But I'm not playing a solo sport where it's tennis or golf and it's just myself – it's a team game.

“I have a really good relationship with Pep and he was kind enough to invite me out for food. He paid the bill, for once!

“It was good to know his plans for the future and for this season and what he wants to do. Being one of the senior members – and standing in the captaincy – it was important to get Pep's views and put my view of what the lads feel for the season coming forward.

“The contract extension is coming. It's my seventh season here and I feel like one of the old ones – there's me, Kevin (De Bruyne), John (Stones), Bernardo (Silva) and Eddy (Ederson) from the first couple of seasons when Pep came in.

“I love the place, I've experienced things I only dreamed of here – especially the last season – so why would you want to leave a club like this?

“It was about who gave me the most years (on contract), it wasn't like I was going to a worse club because Bayern Munich is a massive club and seeing what Harry (Kane) is doing there and will do. It was just what gave me the years in my contract to play football at the highest level.”

'Of course I want the captaincy'