Kyle Walker claims the media 'overstepped the mark' with coverage of Lauryn Goodman scandal after seeing his wife Annie Kilner & kids hounded by paparazzi

Walker remains in the process of rebuilding his marriage, having faced the threat of divorce at one stage, and is preparing to welcome baby No.5 into the world with childhood sweetheart Kilner.

Plenty of strain has been put on that relationship, with Goodman’s presence looming large, with it impossible to escape the glare of news coverage at various intervals. Walker and his family have come through a lot of challenges, with the hope being that they will now be left alone to get on with their private lives.

Discussing an unfortunate saga with The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, Walker said: “As footballers, you develop very tough skin. With the social media platforms and everything like that now, you develop a tough skin. I can't read everything online and when I'm wrong, I'm completely wrong and I deserve every bit of criticism that I should get thrown my way.

“But sometimes, I think that the outside world and the media push the boundaries a lot and they take away your fact as a human. When my wife or I or my kids are walking down the street and you've got paparazzi jumping out on you.

“I've caused it completely and you can write your articles about me, but they're just kids that don't really need it. My wife is just a normal girl from Sheffield. She doesn't need it, but I've put them in that situation myself, so I have to take accountability for that.”

He went on to say of the long-running coverage that his extramarital affair attracted: “The story just ran for a long time. It felt like it went on for weeks and it was a story. When people click, they see that people are clicking, the media then continue to write about the story. And unfortunately, it's been my fault, but I think if they've overstepped the mark a little bit, I'd probably say, yeah.”

While Walker has had plenty to contend with off the field, he has continued to give his all on it. Wings have been spread in more recent times, with a loan spell at AC Milan last season taking him away from Manchester City. A permanent move was then made to Burnley.

The Premier League is still being graced at 35 years age, while becoming locked in a relegation battle this season, and no date has been set for professional boots to be hung up for the final time.

Walker said when asked what the future holds for him, with a potential move into the dugout being mooted: “I’m currently doing my coaching badges because I want to have that as a string to my bow. It's not that I'm going to go into coaching or I want to go into coaching, but I feel that if I could give back. I'm not about me so much, I'm more about the game of football and I know it's cliche for me to say and it's probably like, ‘he's just saying what you want’, I'm not. I'd do everything for the love of playing football because if there wasn't football, from where I grew up, I didn't have anything. I want to give something back and if I can help one player, whether that's not technically, but just mentally.

“I always say everyone can play football and you've probably met a lot of players that have come through the game of football, but I think you make it up here [referring to the mental side of football]. Your top 10% of footballers make it as a football player, based on whether you can deal with pressure, criticism, ups and downs in your career, injuries. Unless you can get over that, I don't think you'll ever reach the top.”

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