Kyle Walker insists Man United comment made to Eric Dier was nothing more than ‘banter’

Rejoice, football fans: September is here.

Not only does this mean that the transfer window has been closed, locked with one of those tiny keys and covered up with a nice velux black-out blind - it also means the first international break of the new season is upon us. As England fans look ahead to the mouth-watering prospect of a more-difficult-than-anticipated 2-0 victory over Malta, some of the country's star players have been renewing acquaintances over recent days. Take Kyle Walker, for example, who's had the opportunity to catch up with former Tottenham teammates Dele Alli and Eric Dier following his move to Manchester City earlier this summer. As was noted by many who witnessed one of Alli's recent Instagram Live broadcasts, Walker was called a "traitor" during an exchange with the pair. In response, Walker retorted that there was little problem when Dier was interested in a move to Manchester United. https://twitter.com/AmarPankhania/status/903260780296114176 Predictably, the exchange has prompted a string of sexy headlines, some implying there was a genuine issue between the full-back and his former club-mates. This, however, is not the case. Speaking ahead of the Malta game, Walker moved to clarify matters with a Richard Keys-esque explanation: "It's just a bit of friendly banter,'' he said ahead of the World Cup qualifier. "I think it's been took a bit too far, me, Del, Harry [Kane], Eric, we're all very close. I've know them for a good six, seven years now. "It's all just a bit of friendly banter and I wouldn't read too much into it.'' When asked if Dier had called him a traitor, Walker laughed: "Yeah, it's just kind of one of them things that you just have a bit of fun about. "You know, me and Eric have a good relationship on and off the field. "We have banter together and I take it, he takes it. That's just about it, really.''