"Really odd" - Wayne Rooney hits out at Pep Guardiola for Manchester City decision as he makes Jose Mourinho comparison

Wayne Rooney has slammed Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola's decision to let Kyle Walker join AC Milan on loan. He believes that the club captain should have stayed until the end of the season and then left the club.

Speaking on Amazon Prime, Rooney stated that Manchester City missed a right back in their loss to Real Madrid. He claimed that the mistake from Guardiola is set to cost them a lot this season (via Metro):

"I think you see the importance of Kyle Walker over the last seven or eight years for Manchester City. It’s so strange to see Kyle Walker go out on loan to AC Milan. Akanji’s obviously not a right-back, Rico Lewis is a young player playing in different positions, at this point in the season where Manchester City are struggling, Kyle Walker is the captain of the football club, to allow him to go on loan, for me, is really odd."

"I think at this moment in time and Man City going through this blip they’re going through and Kyle Walker being the captain of the club and the importance of him over the last few years, I think an agreement to say, ‘let’s wait until the summer, help us out’, maybe the league is too far for them to reach now but they’ve still got the Champions League, help them get through the season."

Walker asked for a move away from Manchester City in January amid rumors of interest from the Saudi Pro League. He ended up joining AC Milan on loan for the rest of the season.

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Wayne Rooney compares his situation with Kyle Walker at Manchester City

Wayne Rooney recalled his talks with Jose Mourinho when he wanted to leave Manchester United. He claimed that the manager convinced him to stay for the rest of the season as they needed his help and believes that Pep Guardiola should have done the same with Kyle Walker.

He said via Metro:

"I had it with Mourinho [at Manchester United] when I wasn’t playing with Jose Mourinho. I had the same conversation in January and he said to me, ‘stay until the end of the season, I need you to help us in the Europa League’. It was hard for me to take but I respected him for that and we shook hands and I left at the end of the season. I think that would have been the more sensible move for Kyle."

Manchester City lost 2-3 to Real Madrid on Tuesday (Feb. 11) night after leading twice. Erling Haaland scored a brace, but goals from Kylian Mbappe, Brahim Diaz, and Jude Bellingham gave the defending champions the edge going into the second leg.