Premier League chief offered to buy £40m ace with own money when club had doubts
Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs claims he threatened to part with his own money to ensure the club completed a deal for star centre-back Max Kilman.
Kilman, 26, is thought to be valued at around £40m and was one of the centre-backs linked with Serie A champions Napoli as they sought a replacement for Kim Min-jae after the defender's summer move to Bayern Munich. Back in 2018, though, he was an untested 21-year-old who had only ever played non-league football.
The London-born star made his 100th senior appearance for Wolves last season, and was named club captain over the summer after Ruben Neves' departure. Were it not for Hobbs' intervention, though, he might never have signed for the Premier League club.
"I basically had to threaten to buy him with my own money," Hobbs told BBC Radio 5 Live. At the time, the chief was head of emerging talent, but would take over as sporting director several years later.
"He [Kilman] came in on trial with the Under-23s at the start of summer. We were trying to get the average age down, we were quite old at the time and Max coming in at 21 wasn't going to help that.
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"And at £40k, we were never going to lose money. So as far as a business decision it was a simple one. But the age went against him. He came in the first week, we didn't sign him until deadline day and two days before I said 'I'll have to buy him with my own money...you cover his wage and whatever we sell him for, I'll double what you've paid and I'll keep the rest.'"
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Max Kilman has taken over as Wolves' captain (Getty Images)Kilman had been on the radar of Reading and Fulham in his teens, but didn't earn a professional contract with either club. Instead, he spent time in non-league football - predominantly with National League side Maidenhead United - before making his big step up.
When the centre-back joined Wolves, Hobbs was working under Kevin Thelwell. Thelwell left for Major League Soccer side New York Red Bulls in 2020, and is now director of football at Everton, while Hobbs has held a number of posts at Molineux before taking on his current role in 2022.
“I think for us, it’s understanding who we are and being honest with ourselves," Hobbs added. "Not barking up trees that would be nice to have, but illogical for us.
"It’s about finding the perfect player for you, so an unknown gem might look different to us. So while everyone is in the same market, clubs have different things they are looking for.
“I brought Max to the club, he’s now our captain, he was £40k from Maidenhead, he was my first ever signing in my role actually. He landed at Fulham and Reading’s door and wasn’t for them. Doesn’t mean they were wrong, just opportunity.”
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