Mauricio Pochettino says Kyle Walker deserves a good reception from the Tottenham fans when Spurs face Manchester City at Wembley this weekend.
Walker left Tottenham last summer after eight years at the north London club.
He has already played against his former side when City won the reverse fixture 4-1 at the Etihad Stadium back in December.
Fittingly, that was the last time Spurs lost in the Premier League, and Pochettino’s men will be looking to secure a seventh successive league win on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Walker and City will be aiming to avoid a fourth straight defeat in all competitions.
Despite reports of a falling out between Pochettino and Walker towards the end of the right-back’s Tottenham career, the Spurs boss says he is still on good terms with his former player.
“For me, always Kyle will be a player that did a lot for the club, did a lot for us in three years and of course the club did a lot for him and we did many things for him. The relationship is good with us, with the club,” said Pochettino (via football.london).
“He deserves a good reception. It’s natural sometimes for the fans to be disappointed when they love some player and the decision is to move.
“But I think after seven or eight months after that thing happened he deserves a good reception from the fans. I think the fans love him, disappointed in the moment that he left, but he deserves a good reception from the fans.”
After failing to win any silverware with Tottenham, Walker has already won a trophy this season – the EFL Cup – and is set to win his first Premier League title by the end of the campaign.
That said, Spurs haven’t missed the 27-year-old too much thanks to the form of Kieran Trippier – although Walker is arguably the better player.
Agreed