Kyle Walker has revealed a sushi dinner with Pep Guardiola convinced him to stay at Manchester City and reject an offer from Bayern Munich.
The 33-year-old is poised to sign a new three-year deal with the Premier League champions, but admitted he came very close so swap England for Germany over the summer.
Bayern agreed personal terms with the England international over a two-year deal, but after meeting Guardiola for dinner, Walker changed his mind and opted to remain in Manchester instead.
'I have a really good relationship with Pep and he was kind enough to invite me out for food,' he told The Times.
'He paid the bill, for once!
'It was good to know his plans for the future and for this season and what he wants to do.
'Being one of the senior members – and standing in the captaincy – it was important to get Pep’s views and put my view of what the lads feel for the season coming forward.'
Harry Kane swapped the Premier League for the Bundesliga this summer and Walker admitted he would have relished the opportunity to play for Bayern.
'It was close but in football things can happen,' he said.
'Decisions can be made. Things can turn. It wasn’t meant to be.
'Would I have enjoyed the experience? Of course I would have done.'
At the same time, he conceded that leaving City would have proved difficult after six seasons at the Etihad.
'I love the place, I’ve experienced things I only dreamed of here – especially the last season – so why would you want to leave a club like this?,' he said.
'It was about who gave me the most years [on contract] [...] It was just what gave me the years in my contract to play football at the highest level.'
While City are traditionally reluctant to offer long-term deals to veteran players, they appear to have made an exception for Walker, who will be 36 by the time his new contract runs out.
While the former Tottenham defender lost his starting spot last season and played only eight minutes in the Champions League final win against Inter Milan, allowing him to leave would have left City short of options at right-back
Instead, Walker has played every minute of City's four Premier League games so far, as well as playing 120 minutes in both the Community Shield defeat against Arsenal and the UEFA Super Cup final win over Sevilla.
He has also been handed the captaincy on an interim basis following Kevin De Bruyne's injury on the opening weekend of the season.
Walker is determined to make the position his own on a permanent basis.
'I am relishing the opportunity.
'I am very grateful and hopefully I am stand-in captain until Kevin comes back or I get the official [position], that is up to the lads and staff.
'It is an honour of privilege, of course I want it. If you can’t pass on your knowledge and life experiences on or off the field I shouldn’t be playing at a great club like this.'