Kilman's £40m move to West Ham United will 'profoundly change' Maidenhead United's future

Maidenhead United chairman Peter Griffin has said Max Kilman's £40m move from Wolverhampton Wanderers to West Ham United is a 'momentous day for the club' and one which ‘profoundly changes’ its future.

The Magpies are set to net a significant sell on fee - thought to be around £4m - following Kilman's move from the midlands to the London Stadium.

It also seems the National League club played a role in greasing the wheels for the move after reportedly renegotiating their sell-on fee down from 20 per cent to 10 per cent to enable the transfer to move forward.

As such the Magpies look set to bank a reported £4m from Kilman's move rather the £6-8m which had been floated by many outlets in recent weeks as speculation around Kilman's future grew.

United's chairman is also set to speak live on Sky Sports this Saturday lunchtime (12.15pm) about the deal and the club's sell-on clause ahead of the Magpies' pre-season friendly with Holyport which kicks off at Summerleaze Park at 12.30pm.

Reports began circulating that West Ham were closing in on a deal for the Wolves captain last week, and Kilman travelled down to London to begin his medical on Thursday afternoon. The move was finally confirmed this morning (Saturday) with Kilman signing a seven-year contract with the Hammers.

Kilman confirmed ✅ pic.twitter.com/QwJiwRRMNT

— West Ham United (@WestHam) July 6, 2024

Maidenhead United sold Kilman to Wolves for around £40,000 in 2018 and managed to get a significant sell-on fee for the player that was confirmed by the Magpies chairman in late March.

A commercial confidentiality agreement prevents Griffin from providing any specific details about the clause, but he did say in today’s statement that the three clubs, Maidenhead, West Ham United and Wolves, had reached a 'mutually agreeable position that all parties were satisfied with' and went on to say that the terms they received were in the 'best interests of the club.'

If they did renegotiate their share of the transfer fee down from 20 per cent to 10 per cent - as has been widely reported - it remains to be seen if the club have managed to get some sort of sweetener from either Wolves or West Ham - or both - to see this deal over the line?

Griffin said: “I would like to congratulate former Maidenhead United player, Max Kilman, on completing his transfer from Wolves to West Ham and wish him every success for this exciting next stage of his career.

“It is no great secret that when we sold Max to Wolves in 2018 a sell on clause was included within the transfer agreement which the club will now benefit from over the coming few years.

“Over recent days there has been a lot of speculation regarding the sell on clause and the amount of money the club will receive. As you would expect commercial confidentially prohibits me from providing specific details about the sell on clause, however, we were engaged with various parties during the negotiation process for Max’s transfer. We reached a mutually agreeable position that all parties are satisfied with and importantly it is in the best interest of the club.

“Ultimately this is a fantastic outcome for club which will benefit from one of the largest, if not the largest, transfer payments an English non-league club has ever received, which is something to celebrate. This is testament to the hard work of Alan Devonshire and his coaching team past and present, as well our Academy programme which every year is developing players which move into our first team squad.

“This is a momentous day for Maidenhead United FC, which gives us the opportunity to profoundly change the future of the club. A supporters meeting will be held in due course to give more details on how the cash injection will be used on and off the pitch.”

There has been speculation over Kilman's future at Wolves for the past few transfer windows, however, those rumours ramped up over the past few weeks with a couple of Premier League clubs said to be interested in acquiring his services.

John Percy at The Telegraph reported last month that Newcastle were interested in making a cash-plus-player offer for Kilman.

This was rejected by Wolves, however, with new West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui a huge admirer of Kilman from his time managing him at Molineux, the Hammers have always looked like being the front-runners for his signature.

The centre back was followed closely by the Hammers last summer but a bid from them never materialised. Wolves did reject an offer for him from Napoli before agreeing a new five-year deal with the player and making him their captain.

The 27-year-old appeared in all but one of Wolves’ 23 league games under Lopetegui and continued to be a key player when Gary O’Neil replaced the Spaniard less than a week before the start of last season.

Kilman said: "It’s an amazing feeling to be a West Ham United player.

“As soon as I was aware of the interest from the club, it was an opportunity I was keen to pursue, so I couldn’t be more delighted to be here.

“I really enjoyed working with Julen during his time at Wolves. He’s a top-class coach and someone I learned a lot from, and I am confident I will continue to improve as a player under his management here.”

Kilman made 151 appearances for Wolves, scoring three goals, since making his debut in May 2019.

He joins goalkeeper Wes Foderingham and Brazilian winger Luis Guilherme as summer signings at London Stadium.

Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs, who signed Kilman in his previous position as chief scout, said his departure was a "bittersweet moment" but a "deal that worked for everybody".

Hobbs said: "He’s someone you can’t help but root for. I don’t know anyone at the club who would have a negative word about him.

"Maybe people will realise what he did on the pitch more now he’s left than when he was here."