Standing on the red carpet at the glitziest event in the footballing calendar, Kyle Walker failed to crack even the weakest of smiles for the photographers.

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

He appeared to attempt to put a lid on speculation about the state of their marriage by putting his left hand in his pocket to avoid showing whether he was wearing his wedding ring.

Later in the evening, as he was pictured with his gong for being in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year, the Manchester City captain's ring was visible – but he hid it once again for the group photo with his fellow winners.

What should have been a happy night for the football star instead gave an insight into just how tough a time Kyle, 34, is going through after his fling with influencer Lauryn Goodman.

Unlike the sharply dressed other players – including Phil Foden, who was at the star-studded do with his partner Rebecca Cooke – Kyle arrived in a casual black jacket and wearing a pair of £60 Converse trainers. People who know the star say that he usually takes 'huge pride' in getting dressed up for an awards ceremony.

His comparatively sloppy appearance prompted 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, who he has been with since he was 16, may not survive the paternity scandal involving Goodman's second child, despite his vow to save his marriage.

Insider sources say he is deeply fearful that Annie, 30, could tell him at any moment that it's over. She has tried to forgive his misdemeanours. The couple, along with their four children, recently spent a week at an upmarket caravan park called The Warren in Wales. And before that, shortly after Kyle's High Court showdown with Lauryn over child maintenance last month, they enjoyed a family holiday to Turkey.

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

While the couple's PR insists he is spending time at both properties, it is understood that their relationship remains fraught. Friends of Annie say that she is fearful that more stories could come out of the woodwork.

'Kyle has done so much to save his marriage, he has made so many promises to Annie,' said one. 'He doesn't see his children with Lauryn at all after telling Annie he wouldn't. They're trying to work through such a difficult situation, which has been played out in public since the beginning of the year. It is taking its toll. Poor Annie is in a terrible state over it.

'Kyle's team are aware there are other stories that could come out into the public domain which could upset Annie further, whether or not they are true.

'There are real fears now that they just won't be able to work through this. So much has happened, it has been awful.'

Friends of Annie are now said to be 'deeply concerned' for her because of the continuing fallout from Kyle's fling with Lauryn. She is being supported by her staunchly loyal sister Sian – but Sian is said to be no fan of Kyle's.

Wider family members are thought to be disgusted at his behaviour, while friends cannot understand why she would stay with him. Were they to split, she would be entitled to a huge amount of money.

Sources close to Kyle say that he's only too aware that divorce could force him to hand over up to 50 per cent of his estimated £27 million fortune to Annie. She would almost certainly get the £3.5 million mansion where she's brought up their four sons.

Kyle, who earns £160,000 a week playing for Manchester City, has been funding Lauryn and their children Kairo, four, and Kinara, one, too – and will no doubt continue to do so.

He bought her a £2.4 million home in Sussex. On top of that, in the High Court case, we were told that she'd demanded a £31,000 Astro Turf lawn claiming that Kinara is going to become a footballing 'Lioness', an England women's star.

Lauryn also argued that she needed £500 a month to maintain a hot tub for the children's exclusive use, another £500 a month for a gardener and £1,440 a month for a cleaner.

'Everyone around Kyle knows just how much a divorce would cost him,' says one source. 'So does he.' And he's fully aware that footballers have very short shelf-lives in earning terms. He is 34 now so, realistically, there are only about four more years left for him as a professional player and, after that, he will have to carve out a new career. If he splits from Annie, she would be entitled to half, and he would have six children to support between both women.'

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

He and Annie got back together shortly afterwards and then married. But in the winter of 2022 Lauryn was once again pregnant with Kyle's baby, and the following summer, his only daughter was born. On December 27 last year Lauryn messaged Annie with the bombshell news, writing breezily: 'Hey it's Lauryn I just wanted to quickly tell you that Kyle is the father of our daughter.'

Annie responded by throwing Kyle out of the family home two weeks later. Kyle then told his side of the story in a newspaper interview, apparently at Annie's behest. He profusely apologised to his childhood sweetheart, who was pregnant with their fourth child at the time, adding that he had made 'stupid choices' and 'mistakes' in having a relationship with Lauryn.

A furious Lauryn hit back saying that his words were 'unimaginably cruel' to her children. That prompted an extraordinary – and very public – row which saw the Walkers hiring a spokesman to brief the media on the whole affair, as well as putting on a public display of unity.

Annie made a show of supporting Kyle when he played for England at the Euros in Germany in June, flying out with their sons on a private jet.

But Lauryn was there, too. She took Kairo to watch Kyle and, even though the footballer seemed unimpressed, insisting he has no relationship with either of the children he fathered with Lauryn, her presence will have rubbed salt in the wound for Annie. 'It is a desperately unhappy situation,' says one friend of the family. 'This is all taking its toll on Kyle.'

That was evident in his outing to the PFA Awards at the Manchester Opera House. For it is becoming increasingly difficult for the England star to hide his sadness.