What's going on with Kyle Walker?

Kyle Walker once again found himself at the centre of an on-field spat as Manchester City took on Brentford at home on Tuesday night (20 February) – with latest sparing partner and resident league stirrer Neal Maupay no less.

City's centre defender and captain Walker was on the receiving end of a yellow card after colliding with Maupay in an aggressive chase for a loose ball in the 82nd minute of the Citizen’s 1-0 winning clash over the Bees.

Walker has been something of a target over the last month or so as details about his drama filled personal life came to light.

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The last time Maupay and Walker faced off, just three weeks ago on February 5, the two were embroiled in a heated exchange, with Walker telling match officials that he was “about to knock him [Maupay] out” after the Brentford striker had repeatedly made slurs about Walker’s family life, as reported by TalkSport.

While Maupay denied saying anything of that nature, it certainly highlighted just how much pressure Walker must be under at the moment as details of his drama-filled personal life become daily fodder for the tabloids.

We’re talking specifically about the off-field indiscretions that have seen Walker and his partner(s) becoming daily fodder for the tabloids as it emerged he had fathered a child outside his marriage – and has another two on the way.

While Walker is definitely no stranger to this type of controversy, this particular scandal has gone well beyond the football world, and it’s bound to have anything but a positive effect on the now-33-year-old’s playing career.

In January 2024 it was revealed that Walker had been living a double life after having a secret family away from his public life with model Annie Kilner, with whom he has three children currently and, according to The Daily Mail, a fourth on the way.

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Kilner, his partner of 13 years, announced via Instagram that the two had separated. It took just days for news to emerge the reason behind the split was that Walker had fathered a child with influencer Lauryn Goodman in 2020, who was now pregnant with a second one to the Man City and England star.

Everything was kept under wraps until Goodman herself decided to come clean about the situation. According to The Sun, Goodman contacted Kilner directly to tell her the details of their affair while Walker traveled with his team to face Everton in a Premier League match.

Goodman told The Sun that coming clean was something she had to do in order for her and Kyle to move forward with their relationship – however that may play out.

"You need to tell her,” the 33-year old told the British tabloid. You need to tell Annie that you are our daughter’s father and you are having a relationship with your children.

"We need to start 2024 out in an open way. If everyone knows where they stand they can make their own adult choices in life”.

According to the tabloid, Goodman felt she needed to be the one to tell Walker’s wife the news because “Kyle was too weak to do it.”

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“There were hearings coming up surrounding our daughter, there was paperwork flying around and legal meetings had taken place and Annie (pictured) needed to know the truth before something went public." Goodman told The Sun.

“Kyle was happy hiding the truth because he was having two families and was scared about what would happen when Annie knew but I kept saying to him, ‘Our daughter can’t be a secret, she is a human’.

Walker, for his part, admitted his faults in an interview covered by The Sun, saying: "What I’ve done is horrible and I take full responsibility. I made idiot choices and idiot decisions. I can’t begin to think or imagine what Annie is going through. I’ve tried to ask her but there’s pain and hurt."

This latest controversy comes after his March 2023 scandal Walker was recorded in a video, also published by The Sun, showing the City footballer dropping his pants in public and kissing a young unknown woman in a pub in Manchester.

This also came after a 2020 scandal when Walker was found to have breached Covid lockdown laws after hosting a party with two alleged sex workers, The Sun reported.

While the fallout from this scandal is clearly weighing heavily on Walker, you wouldn't know it from his recent performances, shorter fuse aside.

Team manager Pep Guardiola doesn’t seem to have any issue with Walker’s on field efforts at least, and refused to strip the captainicy off him, despite the calls to do so and the weight on the defender’s shoulders.

But with Walker reeling from his exile from the family home, the immense tabloid scrutiny that seems to get stronger each day, and the jibes from opposing players, the City defender’s professionalism is going to be severely challenged as we head to the pointy end of the season.

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