EXCLUSIVE How Burnley signed Kyle Walker - the inside story: The secret personal reason he chose them, his two huge incentives to keep Clarets up and how he's already helping bring more stars to Turf Moor
Last month, in the restless early hours of a stifling morning – and with his club in the midst of a heavy recruitment drive for their forthcoming Mission Impossible – a senior Burnley executive had what he initially felt was a random thought: 'What about Kyle Walker?'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
15 minutes ago
- The Independent
‘What's the point?' Here's what Scottie Scheffler really told us in his ‘crisis' speech
In a digital age fueled by micro-doses of dopamine, it's not often that a five-minute monologue goes viral. At what was an otherwise mundane press conference at Royal Portrush ahead of this week's Open Championship, the world's No 1 golfer, Scottie Scheffler, gave a startlingly honest speech on what it feels like to win a trophy. Elation, he said. And then it's gone. 'It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for a few minutes – it only lasts a few minutes, that euphoric feeling,' said the 29-year-old. 'To win the Byron Nelson Championship at home [in Texas], I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf to have an opportunity to win that tournament. And you win it, get to celebrate, hug my family, my sisters are there, it's such an amazing moment. And it's like: 'Okay, now, what are we going to eat for dinner?' Life goes on. 'What's the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad? That's something that I wrestle with on a daily basis. Showing up at the Masters every year, it's like: why do I want to win this golf tournament so badly? Why do I want to win the Open Championship so badly? I don't know. Because if I win, it's going to be awesome for two minutes. Then we're going to get to the next week and it's: 'Hey, you won two majors this year, how important is it for you to win the FedExCup play-offs?' And we're back here again.' Scheffler's speech was interpreted in some quarters as a kind of personal crisis: he's burnt out, he's lost his desire, he's quitting golf. Yet his point wasn't to reveal some great personal turmoil, but instead to lay bare the realities of what it's really like to achieve your dreams. What he was describing was 'arrival fallacy', the misplaced belief that reaching a particular goal will bring lasting happiness and fulfilment. In his book Happier, Tal Ben-Shahar explains arrival fallacy as the feeling of disappointment or emptiness that follows success, which comes as a shock in itself. There is an expectation that the goal will make you feel fulfilled and satisfied, but once you arrive, that sense of completion is brief or even non-existent. Many athletes have experienced similar feelings to Scheffler, albeit few have ever voiced it with such clarity. The 'Olympic blues' is a common phenomenon felt by athletes after the Games, a crash after the high of the event, and that kind of reality-comedown is a feeling that extends to the very greatest to have ever played sport, when their entire purpose is suddenly stripped away by success. 'Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me?' Tom Brady asked in 2005. 'I think: God, it's gotta be more than this.' You do not have to be an athlete to know that feeling, of finally getting the salary or promotion or house that you have been striving towards, and then realising it wasn't the answer after all. But professional sport comes wrapped up in its own layer of existential crisis. What is it all for? To us – the spectator – sport offers a world to escape to, a rich tapestry full of heroes and villains, of tension and jeopardy, all held together by rituals and traditions and the comfort that the azaleas will bloom at Augusta, Wimbledon will be played on freshly mown grass, and everyone will play each other twice in the Premier League. Sport is a kind of group therapy, a safe space for big feelings like pride and heartbreak and ambition to run free. And perhaps we too often assume the people in it are just characters in the story, or that they feel just like we do. Being great at sport is inherently weird. There are 8 billion people on the planet, and Scheffler is the best at hitting a little ball into a little hole 500 yards away. And although he insists he still enjoys it, perhaps he is entitled, even obliged, to ask: Why? What is this for? Or as he put it, four times: 'What is the point?' 'To get to live out your dreams is very special, but at the end of the day, I'm not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I'm not out here to inspire someone to be the best player in the world, because what's the point? This is not a fulfilling life. It's fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it's not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.' He doesn't draw real fulfilment from what people might expect – trophies and prizes – but everything else. He gets his kicks from the grind, the process of working hard and striving to improve so that he can deliver for his family. 'Every day when I wake up early to go put in the work, my wife thanks me for going out and working so hard. When I get home, I try to thank her every day for taking care of our son. That's why I talk about family being my priority, because it really is. I'm blessed to be able to come out here and play golf, but if my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or my son, that's going to be the last day that I play out here for a living.' Scheffler isn't disillusioned with golf. Actually, he was telling us something simpler: that, like everybody else, he is searching for meaning and purpose in life, and he has found it – not at the top of world rankings, but in his work, and in his family. He is telling us, from the top of the world, to go look for happiness somewhere else.
BBC News
16 minutes ago
- BBC News
Gossip: Edouard could be set for Celtic return
Celtic have been in contact with Odsonne Edouard's agents as they explore a return for the striker, who left for Crystal Palace in 2021 in a £15m deal and could be available for a similar fee as the Eagles look to offload the 25-year-old. (Teamtalk), externalWant more transfer news? Read Wednesday's full gossip columnFollow the gossip column on BBC Sport
Daily Mail
16 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Brentford submit £35m bid for Ipswich star Omari Hutchinson - with former Chelsea youngster keen on move amid interest from two other Premier League clubs
Brentford have bid £35million for Ipswich winger Omari Hutchinson, who is thought to be keen on the move. As first revealed by Mail Sport on Wednesday, the Bees have identified Hutchinson as the ideal man to supplement their attack, especially as at least one of star forwards Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa could leave before the summer transfer window closes. Everton are also interested in Hutchinson and there is a chance Nottingham Forest may enter the race. Forest lost Anthony Elanga to Newcastle last week and remain in dispute with Tottenham, who thought they had triggered Morgan Gibbs-White 's £60m release clause but have yet to finalise the deal for the attacking midfielder, amid fury at the City Ground. Brentford's move for Hutchinson happens in the week they signed former Liverpool and sometime England captain Jordan Henderson. Henderson, described by Bees boss Keith Andrews as 'one of the most influential leaders in modern Premier League years' will fill the void left by the loss of their captain and first-choice defensive-midfielder Christian Norgaard to Arsenal last week. 'I've always had huge admiration for the club,' said the 35-year-old. 'And what they've achieved over the last few years, in particular, how they've grown as a club.' Henderson, who has agreed a two year contract, also spoke highly of new boss Andrews as he embarks on his first head coaching role. 'When I spoke to Keith a few times, he was very good and very honest, and he's excited to get started as well,' Henderson added.
