Maidenhead United chairman Peter Griffin gives an interesting insight into the Max Kilman deal and exciting plans with West Ham and Wolves.
He spoke in an interview with Sky Sports and Maidenhead Advertiser, with Max Kilman making the £40 million transfer from Wolves to West Ham, signing a seven-year contract.
The substantial deal includes a sell-on clause from Kilman’s initial move from Maidenhead to Wolves in 2018 for £40,000, and while Griffin isn’t able to reveal the specific figures due to confidentiality, he did say the proceeds from Kilman’s transfer would significantly benefit the club’s future.
As part of Max Kilman’s sale to West Ham, Wolves and West Ham have agreed to have first team pre-season friendlies with Maidenhead.
Wolves will also look to loan Maidenhead players and give them first team experience in the National League.#wolves #wwfchttps://t.co/tZDAKYoiqV
— us_wolves (@Us_wolves_) July 10, 2024
Reports at first claimed that Maidenhead originally had a 20% sell-on clause with Wolverhampton Wanderers, only for it to be negotiated down to 10% to finalise the £40 million transaction, meaning Maidenhead are to receive £4million for Maidenhead, a remarkable sum for a team in non league football.
Griffin says the money will help support various club aspects, not just the first team, but also to enhance the club’s infrastructure, repairing a potholed car park, updating safety barriers, and supporting their women’s team, academy, and community programs.
There is also more projects being plans which will help generate more revenue for the National League side, saying there will be a strategic approach to spending the newfound resources.
When asked if it fair to say the club played a big role in getting this deal for Max over the line, he said: “You’re absolutely right. The year before there had been an offer for him from Napoli which Wolves turned down. I think that was for about £30m, which is speculation.
“But they said that they didn’t want him to go and gave him a five-year contract and made him club captain.
“Wolves position this summer is that they didn’t want him to move. He’s their club captain and it was going to take a lot of money to replace him. They wanted him to stay and genuinely I felt that was the case. So, that meant any negotiation with a club wanting to buy him, West Ham for example, was that they were going to have to pay a lot to prize him away. West Ham’s manager (Julen Lopotegui) was a former Wolves manager, and he knew Max and really wanted him. So, that put some pressure on West Ham to do a deal. But genuinely I feel that if we hadn’t been part of the negotiation about getting the deal done, I really think Wolves wouldn’t have sold him.
“From our point of view, we got to a point where we were offered an amount of money which may not have been the full amount of money we were entitled to, but the amount of money we’d have got would have been zero if he didn’t move.
“He could obviously have moved in the future, but if you look at his age, and what he’s been doing and you think about how much he might move for in the future, all those things need to be taken into account. So, we looked at it and decided there was a deal there that was good.
“I’ve been in business for a long time and it’s alright having a pipeline and having potential business but actual cash in the bank is king. And sometimes you have to say, I think this was the best deal we were ever going to get out of this. Once we decided that was the case then we closed it off from there. So, yeah, we had to negotiate, we had to give some ground but then all parties did.
“Ultimately, we have a deal that we’re absolutely delighted with, and I don’t have any regrets whatsoever. It’s going to do the club so much good over the next four or five years, it’s phenomenal.”
On how he’s looking at the deal, the percentage fee, he replied: “Yeah, you’ve got to look sometimes and say, ‘yeah, you’ve got a contract there that says 20 per cent’ but as you rightly say, not all players progress. Wolves could have a bad season, they could go down, Max’s value could have plummeted, all these things come into play.
“There’s a huge thing about financial fair play in the Premier League. It’s a massive spectre hanging over it and it’s affecting how much clubs can spend. And that might go one way or another in the next year or so. It might mean that transfer fees are shackled in the next year or so. I’m not saying it will, but these are possibilities, and these are real possibilities. Yes, a player could go on and be worth more, but Max is 27 and on an upward spiral, but he’s getting towards his peak in terms of value. It comes down to a lot of things, but you can hold on for more money, you can hold on for what you think you’re going to get but you’re gambling that against what you’ve been offered and you’re gambling that against zero.
“The difference this money can make. This money that’s coming to us will help secure Maidenhead United’s first team, women’s team, all the community things we do and our infrastructure plans. This has given us a really huge boost for the future and if we didn’t have it, I have to say the finances in the National League are awful. They’re getting worse by the year.
“With the council, when they reneged on the deal to move, that put real doubt in my mind about the long-term viability of the club. No two-ways about it, I’d never been more worried about the club’s future than I have been in this last year since the council reneged on their deal.
“This genuinely has secured us. It’s a lifeline and a real financial boost that any other club would die for. Sometimes you just have to make a decision and go with what you feel is right. I’ve not got a single doubt in my mind that we’ve done the best deal for the club. We’re very happy with it.”
He also reveals that Maidenhead are now trying to get it in writing that they will be West Ham and Wolves in pre-season over the next few seasons.
Not only that, but there is an agreement with Wolves to have some of their players on loan at Maidenhead.
“I think we’re happy with what we’ve got and the relationship, especially with Wolves will be very strong and hopefully that can benefit us in other ways as well.”
Other things they plan to do is put a bit more budget into the men’s first team (having one of the bottom four budgets in this division and always one of the favourites to go down), to help the women’s team, the women’s development team and the whole section, use it on facilities and equipment, the community side of the club.
Long term they’re looking at a training facility, unfortunately none of that money can’t really go on the stadium at York Road, apart from infrastructure work, as “there isn’t the space”, and their plans to move to Braywick Park was turned down by the council, “so we must look at where we can go.
“We’ll look to get some immediate return for the money and some longer term returns as well.
“The trouble with York Road, even if you put an astroturf in there, it’s very hard because access is not great and there’s not much car parking there. If you’re looking for a place to put a community facility that can be used throughout the week, York Road wouldn’t be your number one choice because of access/parking etc.”
They will seek how they can make it benefit them over a two-to-three-year window and in the long term, to try and allow the men’s first team to go professional in coming years.
This is how fans reacted as the Maidenhead chairman gives an insight into the Max Kilman deal and exciting plans with West Ham and Wolves…
@ngubbins11: Disappointed to hear the sell on fee got lowered. Only you and Wolves know the ins and outs of the deal. But hopefully the money you did receive helps you for many years. 👌🏻👍🏻
@Jaxkxc: this transfer has been an all round W and so glad to see support of a non league club basically being put into the transfer. great to see from both us and wolves
@FPL_Cockney: Have to admire the genuineness of the Maidenhead owner
@JBWHU02: Free W for Maidenhead each year then
@26hpork: I mean, our U21’s are there next week. Not sure if that counts but it’ll be a good craic. I’ll be able to tick off a new ground. ⚒️
@WhuFg22: That’s class wtf
@ianmckee58: Fucking get in
@WalsB_irons: Henceforth this fixture shall be known as the “Max Kilman trophy”. Can we replace the betway Cup with it?
@ConnorWHU_: Really big for them as a club, they’ll get a lot of money from this.
@JackWWFC1303: That is worth a lot to them, probably more than people will realise.
@ashburns92: Fabio Silva and Guedes would do ok in that league
@BC1877: Maidenhead are one of the few part time teams left in the NL so will be interesting to see how loaning players there will work… that being said Fabio Silva will finally play at his level
@Richwolves64: “We had to agree a reduced fee of £4m as they threatened to send Fabio Silva here on loan if we didn’t.”
@808Slates: Awesome all round!!!
@SamWood03: So many people complaining that we bullied maidenhead into losing money but this is worth a decent amount of what they “lost”
@Wolves689: That’s great news for both Maidenhead & Wolves. Young Wolves players will get great 1st team experience in a very tough League.
@C8JP8S: That’s good on all fronts.
@mike90142283: That’s good as I live in Maidenhead
@RocketpoolWWFC: @MUFCYorkRoad do you want Fabio Silva or Guedes? I’ll drive them to you if you want
@wwfcBanx_: @fabiosilva we’ve found your next home buddy
@rich_brookes09: Let’s send Fabio there for the season
@Sandhurstwolf: Close to me so that be good
@PortTNWolf: I think that’s cool

You must be logged in to post a comment Login