The bizarre reason Man City star cuts holes in his socks

Kyle Walker sealed a stunning Manchester City victory with an emphatic strike, but his socks were the talking point from the match.

The right-back baffled fans when photos of his socks went viral, with several large holes cut into the back of them.

But the 28-year-old had a very good reason for the hack job, simply putting it down to an injury prevention method.

As players receive a new pair of socks for each game, many find them too tight which can cause muscle issues.

After the match, BT Sports pundit Jermaine Jenas put the strange phenomenon into perspective for viewers and fans.

“It’s about functionality,” Jenas said.

“He obviously thinks his socks are too tight so he cuts holes in them to help the circulation in his calves so he doesn’t get cramp.

“Well if he’s hitting them like that, he can cut holes in his socks anyway.”

But despite the relatively straightforward explanation, fans were still left complexed by the bizarre look.

Guardiola promises more from City

Pep Guardiola is confident Premier League champions Manchester City will rise to the challenge of a potential title fight with Liverpool and Chelsea.

City returned to winning ways as goals from England internationals Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker saw off a dogged Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium – seven days on from a frustrating 1-1 draw at Wolves.

Liverpool and Chelsea preserved their 100 per cent records earlier in the day, while Watford surprisingly did likewise by beating Tottenham 2-1 on Sunday, meaning the early indications are Guardiola’s record-breaking champions of last season will have a little more company this time around.

“We have the same points as this time last season in that moment,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss told reporters.

“Our opponents have more points than then, Chelsea had dropped points and Liverpool a few. We knew [their quality].

“We want get our best level but I am so surprised at what happened last season.”

City were lackadaisical in allowing DeAndre Yedlin to equalise for Newcastle on the counter-attack – an area of the game where they also appeared vulnerable at Molineux.

Nevertheless, Guardiola is satisfied with what he has seen so far across four games where he has chopped and changed both personnel and formations.

“When you come back from the World Cup you never know how you’re going to react in terms of consistency,” he said.

“We beat Chelsea in the Community Shield and, in general, in the four games we were better than the other teams. That’s what we are looking for: to be better. Sometimes we win, sometimes not.

“To be better is to control, create more chances and concede fewer. In the four games – even the Community Shield – it is what happened.”

Guardiola is convinced the best is yet to come from his side, with the same seemingly true of Liverpool and a Chelsea team still in the early stages of Maurizio Sarri’s reign.

“We will improve,” he added. “It’s almost impossible after the World Cup, after what happened last season, mentally for the players and everybody to be in the best condition.

“We need more time and after the international break the season starts properly in terms of having games every three days.

“What we have to do is what we have to do – try to be better than the opponent every single game, try to follow what we spoke about and prepared.

“This period, in the five official games we’ve played, it’s happened. We would like to score more goals but we created the chances.”

with Goal.