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Kyle Walker was involved in a heated exchange with AC Milan teammate Joao Felix during another frustrating night at the office for his loan club.
Trailing 2-0 at half-time against Napoli on Sunday, Walker was spotted giving the Chelsea flop a dressing down over his unwillingness to pass the ball.
As the Milan players made their way out from the dressing room for the second period, the England international was heard telling Felix: ‘Pass the ball, we are not Messi.’
Walker’s advice seemingly fell on deaf ears, with Felix hooked off just 10 minutes into the second half as under-pressure manager Sergio Conceicao looked to change things up.
His tactical tweaks failed to turn the tide, with Milan falling to a 2-1 defeat.
Walker, 34, hit the ground running in Italy with three unbeaten results from his first three starts, forming part of a defence which scored just two goals.
Kyle Walker (right) has some stern words for Joao Felix as the players emerge from the tunnel
Walker was given a 4.5 rating by Sempre Milan for his performance in the defeat by Napoli
Felix has not scored in the 10 appearances since making his debut for the Rossoneri
But his time in Milan – the destination he sought to move to amid off-field problems back home – has unravelled. He was taken off at half time during their win over Verona and was dropped to the bench for the team’s defeat at home to Lazio last month.
Against Napoli, Walker was taken off in the 79th minute, with Milan outlet Sempre Milan giving him a 4.5 rating for his performance, out of a maximum 10.
They wrote of his performance: ‘The whole defence was poor, but he was certainly at fault on the second goal, following [Alessandro] Buongiorno’s run fully – thus playing [Romelu] Lukaku onside v despite the fact that Milan had a high line at the time. A big mistake for a player with his experience. He had a couple of decent runs forward but then couldn’t get the crosses right.’
Felix also joined Milan on loan in January – from Chelsea – and scored on his debut but the forward has failed to find the back of the net in 10 appearances since.
Milan, seven-time European champions, sit way off the pace in Serie A where they are ninth and a massive 20 points off league leaders and Inter.
They face their city rivals in Wednesday’s Coppa Italia semi-final first leg in what will be a chance for the Rossoneri, Walker and Felix to get their season back on track.
