One of the Premier League’s biggest bargain signings of recent years arrived at his club on the cheap after their head of emerging talent offered to foot the bill himself

Matt Hobbs, Wolves’ sporting director, alleges he threatened to use his personal money to ensure the club completed a move for outstanding centre-back Max Kilman.

Kilman, 26, is considered to be worth approximately £40 million and was linked with Serie A champions Napoli as they sought a replacement for Kim Min-jae following his summer departure to Bayern Munich. In 2018, he was a raw 21-year-old who had only ever played non-league football.

Last season, he made his 100th senior appearance for Wolves and was elected club captain following the departure of Ruben Neves. He might not have signed for the Premier League team if it hadn’t been for Hobbs’ influence.

“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.

“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.'”

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.