Carson 'one of the people you need around' - Walker

Everyone needs a Scott Carson in their squad.

That might not have been a sentence you expected to read today but it is the opinion of Kyle Walker, who has shared the Manchester City changing room with the 39-year-old goalkeeper since 2019.

Carson has quite the reputation for being one of football's good guys and has also acquired an incredible CV since his senior career started way back in 2003 at Leeds.

But, despite filling his trophy cabinet, he has only played twice in six years for City and has not kept a Premier League clean sheet since 14 May 2011.

Walker told The Kyle Walker Podcast: "For someone of his age to have played the amount of games he's played. To come in every day knowing you're the third-choice keeper... mentally, I have to take my hat off to him.

"Scott Carson could retire, he's had a fantastic career but to still have the love for football and do what he does, these are the people you need around the place."

If you haven't been watching the Premier League for long then you could be forgiven for not knowing who Carson is. After all, he has only played twice in all competitions since joining City in 2019 - the last appearance coming in May 2022.

To put it simply, Carson is a four-time Premier League winner with two Champions League titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups, two Super Cups and a Club World Cup.

The first of his major trophies came back in 2005 when he was an unused substitute for Liverpool during their Champions League win in Istanbul and then followed it up with the Super Cup. The following year, he was part of the Reds squad who lifted the FA Cup.

Incredibly, Carson's last clean sheet in England's top flight came 14 years ago - in a 1-0 win over Everton while playing for West Brom.

Since that last shut out, he picked up his fourth and final England cap and also added nine of the 12 major trophies he has won to his collection.

Despite spending eight years at Bursaspor, Wigan and Derby, the Premier League champions came calling and two years on loan at the Etihad Stadium resulted in being signed permanently by Pep Guardiola.

Carson may well be City's third-choice stopper behind Ederson and Stefan Ortega but he has earned himself three new one-year deals. Is a fourth on the cards soon?

David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Vincent Kompany are just three names who are etched into City history forever.

But, if we are talking trophies and influence on the team-mates around them, then Carson is right up there alongside these City legends.

Just ask Pep Guardiola. The Catalan has managed the best City have had to offer in modern times, but he encourages young players to learn from the veteran goalkeeper.

"I was fortunate in Manchester to know this guy," said Guardiola. "Sometimes as a manager you get the opportunity to know people like him – he's like a captain, built incredible love for the team. I'm pretty sure when we need him, he'll respond!

"The best advice I could give to the young players is to stay around Scott Carson as much as possible in the locker room and on the pitch.

"It would be better than being with me. If they spend a lot of time, listen to him and pay attention, that is the best advice and learning they can get about their future careers.

"Every second he is training and every minute you get on the pitch and in the changing room [with Carson], you value.

"It's like the young actors have to be with the old actors on the set. They are wiser and have the values of the profession."