Kyle Walker hopes his Tottenham exit will help Kieran Trippier thrive for England

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Kyle Walker says his leaving Tottenham to allow Kieran Trippier to step up could benefit England.

The full-back, who joined Manchester City for £50million last summer, battled with Trippier for the first team spot in north London, but has seen his England team-mate thrive since his departure.

Serge Aurier arrived to fill the void left by Walker, however, more often than not Mauricio Pochettino has preferred the former Burnley man.

Walker and Trippier have also begun to flourish under Gareth Southgate, with the former playing in a back three to allow the latter a right wing-back role.

“I thought about what I was wanting to do with my career,” Walker told BBC 5 live of his Spurs departure.

“Tripps [Kieran Trippier] was a great competitor at Spurs for me, but I wanted to give myself something new.

“Going to City was the right step, working with the manager, him passing on some of the experience he’s gained from working with players.

"It’s good for Tripps to get regular football, and it’s good for me and, hopefully, England too."

Changing places | Trippier has taken on the role of first choice right-back since Walker's departure 
Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images

The fee for Walker’s move was a surprise to many last summer, and while the former Sheffield United man had nothing to do with the price-tag, it’s something he felt he had to prove.

In winning the title and landing a spot in the PFA Team of the Year, the 27-year-old has more than done that.

"There was a bit of me that wanted to prove people wrong,” he continued. “To me, it was the two Chairmen who came to that price [transfer fee], that wasn't down to me.

"I didn't say '£50m, you've got to buy me for that', it's completely up to them. I was out of the way for that.

"So when you do see little things like that and a few presenters who say things, but I just had to prove to myself that I'm good enough to play in this team, because I was coming into a team full of world class players.

"I mainly needed to prove to myself rather than other people that I'm quite capable of playing in this team and at such a high level with high demands."

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