Max Kilman

Max Kilman played every minute of Wolverhampton Wanderers' 2023–24 Premier League season, 3,420 in all, one of only two outfield players in the division to do so. That autumn he was the club captain, an appointment made in August 2023.

His route to that armband was not through an academy. He began at Welling United, where he made one appearance in the London Senior Cup in October 2014, then moved to Maidenhead United in 2015. There he played 34 league games and scored once. A loan spell at Marlow in 2016–17 brought 30 league appearances and another goal.

Wolves signed him in August 2018 for a fee widely reported as £40,000. He made his senior debut in May 2019 and became a regular starter, going on to play 127 league games for the club and score three goals. He was named in the Premier League Team of the Month for October 2020 and was shortlisted for Wolves Player of the Year in 2022.

The fee paid in July 2024 was far larger. West Ham United signed him for £40 million on a seven-year contract. A 10% sell-on clause in his original deal meant Maidenhead United received £4 million from the transfer. For West Ham he has made 67 league appearances and scored once.

His international story is unusual. He has played for England at futsal, winning 25 caps after making his debut at 18. Because of that competitive futsal record, FIFA rejected an application in April 2021 to switch his allegiance to Ukraine, whose nationality he was eligible for through heritage. He has not made a senior appearance for any national side at eleven-a-side football.