Journalist Jacob Steinberg had made a simply staggering new claim about West Ham talks for Wolves star Max Kilman.
Speculation has ramped up this week about a West Ham move for Wolverhampton Wanderers’ captain Max Kilman.
Wolves skipper Kilman has been linked with West Ham for some time.
Word is that is because the Hammers had been lining up their former boss Julen Lopetegui long before his eventual arrival at the London Stadium.
It is believed Kilman was on a list of four players Lopetegui wanted West Ham to sign if he was to become their new head coach.
While speculation has intensified this week, the truth is West Ham have been locked in talks with Wolves for the last two weeks.
West Ham move for Wolves star intensifies
Hammers News has brought you two exclusives regarding Kilman from the top spokesman inside West Ham this week.
First the club confirmed to Hammers News that they are indeed bidding to try and sign Kilman – as well as a host of other players.
Reports of two rejected bids have surfaced over the last few days.
Hammers News then revealed West Ham are hoping a third bid with a different structure will be accepted by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
West Ham fans are well used to their transfer attempts becoming long, drawn out sagas.
But now a journalist has made a staggering claim about West Ham talks for Wolves star Kilman.
Following on from the Hammers News exclusives, Jacob Steinberg has delivered a fresh update.
Staggering claim about West Ham talks for Kilman
And he claims West Ham are hoping to agree a deal with wolves THIS WEEK.
So there could be big news in the next five days if Steinberg’s claim is accurate.
“The club is expected to bid again for the Wolves centre-back Maximilian Kilman,” Steinberg stated on The Guardian overnight.
“West Ham’s opening offer of £30m plus add-ons for the Wolves captain was rejected last week but they hope that they will be able to clinch a deal for him this week.
“Lopetegui knows Kilman from his time at Molineux. Wolves are not under pressure to sell Kilman but they could find it difficult to turn down an offer in the region of £45m. It is understood that West Ham’s next bid will not include an offer for players to move in the opposite direction.”
This is a pretty sensational claim.
And it suggests one thing.
That West Ham are quietly confident of getting a deal in place to bring the London-born centre-back to the club.
Lopetegui made Kilman captain at Wolves and clearly rates him very highly indeed.
The former futsal star is very unlucky not to be involved in the England setup.
Hammers must be confident of sealing deal
West Ham’s move for him comes after new head coach Lopetegui decided he wants captain Kurt Zouma sold.
Zouma and Nayef Aguerd are expected to follow Angelo Ogbonna and Thilo Kehrer in leaving the club on a permanent basis.
Lopetegui and technical director Tim Steidten are working to sign two new centre-backs with Kilman the prime target.
Hammers News also exclusively revealed recently that majority owner David Sullivan is willing to push the boat out to get a deal done for Kilman in order to please West Ham’s new boss.
One thing Steinberg repeats which is simply not the case is that ‘Wolves are not under pressure to sell’.
Because if that is the case then somebody had better tell their manager.
Gary O’Neil recently admitted that Wolves will have to sell a star or two in order to make their own signings this summer.
Another reason West Ham can feel optimistic about getting a deal done for Kilman is wages.
He reportedly earns £50k per week at Wolves. While that is clearly not a wage to be sniffed at, Kilman can expect to more than double that at West Ham, who – for context – pay Zouma, the man he would replace, £125k per week and Lucas Paqueta a whopping £150k per week.
You can learn more about Kilman in the video below.
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