Kyle Walker says he could have stayed at Manchester City and run down his contract, but felt he couldn't turn down the opportunity to prove himself at AC Milan.

Walker has struggled to lock down a place in the City team this season despite being the club captain, and asked Sporting Director Txiki Begiristain to leave this month for an opportunity abroad. That turned out to be Milan, who have secured Walker on a loan until the end of the season with an option to buy.

The defender still has another season on his City contract, but the manner of his farewell messages to the Blues was not one of a player with any intentions of coming back.

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Speaking at his AC Milan unveiling, Walker put his transfer request down to a lack of playing time - opening up on an uncomfortable chat with Pep Guardiola after he had decided to leave.

"Obviously things at Manchester City wasn’t going too well and I wasn’t playing enough football," he told a press conference. "So a reason for me wanting to come and play for this great club was that I hopefully can play a little bit more football than what I was there, and I want to win things.

"When I spoke with Pep, it wasn't a very comfortable conversation – mainly because of the respect we have for each other. What he's won at Manchester City, I've won it too. I like to think he knows what I bring to a dressing room, the atmosphere I create.

"City was my family – from the cooks to the cleaners, the kit men and physios. I like to think I was liked and helped everyone blend in. But things weren't going well there and I wasn't playing enough football. Hopefully I can play a bit more here."

Walker insists that staying at City and running down the final 18-months on his contract was an option. But the challenge of a final chapter in another country appealed too much.

"I could have stayed in Manchester, I still had a contract there. But I think it comes down to challenges in life," he explained. "Sometimes you find yourself in a little bit of a situation where you think 'I need to try something different’, and I’ve spoken to many players, many ex-players, who have not moved abroad to a different league, and they said to me ‘I wish I’d experienced it’.

"If I wasn’t going to a big club, I don’t think I would have done it. I think I would have stayed in the Premier League, at Manchester City, and continued my career there. But when a club like this comes knocking on the door for you, I think there’s only certain clubs in the world that you can kind of not say no to, and this was the opportunity I wanted."