Why friends worry Kyle Walker’s marriage is over: KATIE HIND reveals why love cheat footballer fears ‘other stories’ emerging, and the red carpet detail that speaks volumes…

As he stood on the red carpet at the most glamorous football event on the calendar, Kyle Walker couldn’t even muster a faint smile on the faces of photographers.

Without his wife Annie Kilner by his side, the Manchester City and England defender made a poignant impression at the PFA Awards at the Manchester Opera House on Tuesday.

He appeared to want to quell speculation about the state of their marriage by putting his left hand in his pocket so that it would not be visible whether he was wearing his wedding ring.

Later in the evening, when he was photographed with his gong for his place in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, the Manchester City captain’s ring was visible, but he hid it again for the group photo with his fellow winners.

What should have been a cheerful evening for the soccer star instead provided insight into the tough times Kyle, 34, is going through following his affair with influencer Lauryn Goodman.

Unlike the other sharply dressed players – including Phil Foden, who attended the star-studded party with his partner Rebecca Cooke – Kyle arrived in a casual black jacket and a pair of £60 Converse trainers. Those who know the star say he usually takes “huge pride” in dressing up for an awards ceremony.

His relatively disheveled appearance has led some friends to speculate that, despite Kyle jumping through hoops to keep his marriage going, it could now be over. The Mail can reveal that his romance with Annie, with whom he has been since he was 16, may not survive the paternity scandal surrounding Goodman’s second child, despite his vows to save his marriage.

Annie Kilner and Walker first got together when they were just 16, and have since had four children

The couple pose with three of their children after the footballer’s hometown club, Manchester City, won the FIFA Club World Cup last year

Inside sources say he is deeply afraid that Annie, 30, could tell him it’s over at any moment. She has tried to forgive his transgressions. The couple recently spent a week at a posh caravan park called The Warren in Wales with their four children. And before that, shortly after Kyle’s High Court confrontation with Lauryn over child support last month, they enjoyed a family holiday to Turkey.

The party line is that they are working through their issues. Kyle is said to be living in a Manchester City-funded apartment near the family home in Cheshire, where he moved after Annie threw him out in January.

Walker appears to be wearing his wedding ring as he holds his trophy for the PFA Premier League Team of the Year Award

Although the couple’s PR insists he spends time in both properties, their relationship is known to be strained, with friends of Annie saying she fears more stories will emerge.

“Kyle has done so much to save his marriage, he has made so many promises to Annie,” one person said. “He doesn’t see his kids with Lauryn at all after he told Annie he wouldn’t. They’re trying to get through such a difficult situation, which has been out in the open since the beginning of the year. It’s taking its toll. Poor Annie is in a terrible state.

Kyle’s team is aware that there may be more stories that come into the public domain that could further upset Annie, whether they are true or not.

“There are real fears now that they simply cannot process this. So much has happened, it has been terrible.”

Friends of Annie are now said to be ‘deeply concerned’ for her due to the ongoing fallout from Kyle’s affair with Lauryn. She has the support of her loyal sister Sian, but Sian is said to be no fan of Kyle’s.

The rest of the family are thought to be disgusted by his behaviour, while friends cannot understand why she would stay with him. If they split up, she would be entitled to a huge sum of money.

Sources close to Kyle say he is well aware that a divorce could force him to hand over up to 50 per cent of his estimated £27million fortune to Annie, who would almost certainly get the £3.5million mansion where she has raised their four sons.

Kyle, who earns £160,000-a-week as a Manchester City player, also funds Lauryn and their children Kairo, four, and Kinara, one – and will no doubt continue to do so.

The party line is that Annie and Kyle are working through their issues, writes Katie Hind

He bought her a £2.4million house in Sussex. In addition, we were told in the High Court case that she had demanded a £31,000 Astro Turf lawn because Kinara was going to be a footballing ‘Lioness’, a star player for England women.

Lauryn also argued that she needed £500 a month to maintain a hot tub that was for the children only, a further £500 a month for a gardener and £1,440 a month for a cleaner.

“Everyone around Kyle knows how much a divorce would cost him,” a source said. “He does too.” And he knows all too well that footballers have a short shelf life when it comes to income. He’s 34 now, so realistically he only has four years left as a professional player and then he’ll have to start a new career. If he divorces Annie, she would get half of it and he would have to support six children, split between the two wives.

The sad series of events began in 2019 when Kyle, during a temporary rift with Annie, had an affair with Lauryn – who became pregnant with Kairo.

He and Annie reunited shortly after and married. But by the winter of 2022, Lauryn was pregnant again with Kyle’s baby, and the following summer, their only daughter was born. On December 27 of last year, Lauryn texted Annie with the shocking news, breezily writing, “Hey, I’m Lauryn. I just wanted to quickly tell you that Kyle is the father of our daughter.”

Walker’s affair with Lauryn Goodman caused chaos in his marriage after it emerged he had fathered a second child with her

Annie responded by throwing Kyle out of the family home two weeks later. Kyle subsequently told his side of the story in a newspaper interview, apparently at Annie’s request. He apologized profusely to his high school sweetheart, who was pregnant with their fourth child at the time, adding that he had made “stupid choices” and “mistakes” in his relationship with Lauryn.

A furious Lauryn hit back, saying his words were “unimaginably cruel” to her children. It led to an extraordinary – and very public – row that saw the Walkers hire a spokesperson to brief the media on the whole affair, and stage a public show of unity.

Annie made it clear she supported Kyle when he played for England at the European Championships in Germany in June, flying their sons to meet him in a private jet.

But Lauryn was there too. She brought Kairo along to check out Kyle and, although the footballer seemed unfazed and insisted he had no relationship with any of the children he fathered with Lauryn, her presence must have rubbed salt in the wound for Annie. ‘It’s a desperately unfortunate situation,’ says a family friend. ‘It’s all taking its toll on Kyle.’

This was evident from his outing to the PFA Awards at the Manchester Opera House, as it becomes increasingly difficult for the English star to hide his grief.