West Ham United have been linked with a surprise move for Kyle Walker this week.
The England international played a huge part in Manchester City's famous treble-winning campaign, but the versatile defender could be about to leave the Etihad Stadium.
Having won 12 major honours across six years at City, it has been reported the 33-year-old will be allowed to leave by Pep Guardiola this summer.
Big-spending clubs from Saudi Arabia are inevitably interested in signing Walker, who is capable of playing on the right side of defence or in the middle, while 90min reports that the Hammers are also keeping tabs on the situation.
Signing the Sheffield-born star would be a huge coup for the Hammers, who recently ended their 43-year wait for a major trophy and are about to balance another season of European and domestic football.
What can Kyle Walker bring to West Ham United?
West Ham are no strangers to bringing in an experienced full-back from City, having recruited Pablo Zabaleta on a free transfer during the same summer that Walker arrived in Manchester.
Zabaleta would go on to play 80 times for West Ham over three seasons, before announcing his retirement in an emotional open letter on the club's official website in 2020.
At an almost identical age as Zabaleta was at the time, West Ham will hope Walker can have an even bigger impact than the Argentinian should he arrive at the London Stadium.
Walker was used 39 times in all competitions by City this past season, which ended last week with the Citizens adding the Champions League to the Premier League and FA Cup trophies collected over the previous fortnight.
The 33-year-old was called out by Guardiola in March for his "stupid" off-field antics, but arguably a more damning verdict came the following month when the Catalonia-born boss admitted Walker could no longer play in his tactical system.
That came at a point when Walker had lost his place in the side, but he soon returned – as John Stones was used in a hybrid role between centre-back and holding midfield – with the Sheffield United academy product's quality shining through in the end.
While boasting quality in many different areas, Walker's ability to prevent players running in behind – just ask Real Madrid's attackers – particularly stands out, with his pace not being impacted despite now being 33.
"I'm convinced that Kyle Walker could beat a cheetah over 30m. He's absolutely rapid," football writer Tom Young said last year. Indeed, with a top speed of 21.13mph recorded by Speedsdb, Walker is one of the swiftest defenders around.
Walker, unsurprisingly for a player moulded by Guardiola, is also strong with the ball at his feet. This is reflected by his 83.69 attempted passes per 90 minutes over the past 12 months, as per FBref, which places him in the top 3% of his positional peers across Europe's top five leagues.
The former Tottenham Hotspur dynamo also ranks highly for passes completed percentage (87) and progressive passes per 90 (6.95). To put that into some context, Declan Rice was West Ham's best performer last season in terms of passes attempted with just 58.7 per 90.
Walker, who is currently valued at around £17m by FootballTransfers, would invariably be an upgrade on Vladimir Coufal, West Ham's most used player at right-back last season.
It would also give Irons supporters a new hero to worship, much like Zabaleta, as they look to push on from their European joy last season.