'The cr*ppy bit' - Kyle Walker opens up on scrutiny surrounding personal life in wake of now-infamous affair with Lauryn Goodman that left ex-Man City star's marriage to Annie Kilner in serious jeopardy

New Burnley recruit Walker has been trying to repair his marriage with Kilner ever since news emerged of his affair with Lauryn Goodman. Incidentally, the England international admitted to recently re-watching The Last Dance, the sports documentary about Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls basketball team - and one comment from an NBA icon struck a chord with him.

He told The Telegraph: "Dennis Rodman said something that really got to me, and it was 'I play basketball for free. I take the money for the outside pressure and the outside noise'. The outside noise is the cr*ppy bit and probably what I take the wages for. The better you do, the more your life gets scrutinised, the more your bubble closes in and the more you have to do certain things and live, kind of, in a box. So, certain things you have to just suck up. But I think it’s going in a certain way now where players kind of are going into their shells a little bit."

Reports suggest things may be slowly improving between Walker and Kilner, despite divorce rumours circulating last year after he fathered two kids with Goodman. Walker and Kilner have had four children together and rumours have mounted that another could be on the way. Unfortunately for ex-Manchester City star Walker, his private life may continue to make headlines for a while yet.

For now, Walker is focusing on keeping new team Burnley in the Premier League at the very least. He added: "I like to feel that the lads know that I might get on them. But I’m getting on them because I want to achieve things. I want to stay in this league and I’m not just here to say ‘OK, we beat relegation’. Let’s set our standards higher than that. I’m not the conductor, I’m not the manager. I can bring experience and it’s coming from the heart. It’s coming from a good place. I want to do well with this club. If we can do well and stay in the Premier League, then that’s like a title to me."