Max Kilman: Peter Griffin explains Maidenhead United's role in £40m West Ham move

Max Kilman met his former boss Alan Devonshire on a recent visit to York Road

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Chairman Peter Griffin has given a bit more insight into the deal which took Max Kilman from Wolverhampton Wanderers to West Ham United for £40m this week, and the role Maidenhead United played in order to get the move over the line.

In an interview with the Maidenhead Advertiser, the Magpies chairman admitted the club renegotiated its sell-on clause with Wolves to ensure the move went through and has absolutely no doubts the deal they've done with Wolves and West Ham is the best they could have got, and in the best interests of the club going forward.

Now, he and everyone else at York Road is determined to get the most 'bang for their buck' in the short, medium and long term, and the Magpies plan to use the money they receive to benefit not only the men's first team, but the women's section, their academy, their community projects and the pressing infrastructure projects they hope to pull off in the longer term.

The chairman also said the money could potentially lead to the club going professional in the coming years but added that they'd have to 'do that properly' while adding that it doesn't always equate to success on the field.

Kilman's move from Wolverhampton to West Ham was confirmed on Saturday morning in a deal thought to be worth around £40m. It's been no secret that the Magpies have had a sell-on fee with Wolves for the player - thought to be around 20 per cent. However, it’s been widely reported in the past week that they agreed to negotiate that down to around 10 per cent to facilitate the move - one of the biggest in the Premier League so far this summer.

Griffin can’t go into detail about the figures of the clause due to a confidentiality agreement with Wolves, however, he did confirm they have managed to get a couple of sweeteners for renegotiating their cut. These include pre-season friendlies with Wolves and West Ham United's first team squads over the next couple of seasons while they’re also set to benefit from an agreement with Wolves to loan them players and give them first team experience in the National League.

Speaking to the Advertiser this morning (Wednesday), Griffin said that the club could have held out for more money, from another deal in another transfer window perhaps, but added that they'd have been gambling the offer they had on the table - thought to be around £4m - for a potentially bigger (or smaller) fee in future or perhaps nothing at all.

Below is a full transcript of the chairman's interview.

1, Is it fair to say Maidenhead United played a big role in getting this deal for Max over the line?

Peter Griffin: “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.”

2, I know you can't go into the specifics, but is 10 per cent of £40m, better than 20 per cent of nothing? Is that the way you were looking at it? What were some of the things you had to weigh up?

PG: “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.”

3, Were you able to get some other benefits or sweeteners for renegotiating your sell-on fee?

PG: “Yeah, we’re getting in writing now that over the next couple of seasons we’ll have a pre-season game with both club’s (West Ham United and Wolves) first teams, which will be fantastic occasions for the club. With Wolves in particular we have an agreement there about us borrowing players and players coming out on loan to us. We use the loan system quite frequently and we’ve used it with Fulham very successfully, with Brentford over the years. So, there are opportunities there to imbed that relationship. It’s something we’ll look to take advantage of.

“In business, I’ve worked with a lot of big companies, and when anyone thinks there’s a relationship between the big company and the little company, the big company holds the cards. We have to negotiate on that basis. You have to negotiate and get a deal that’s good for you compared to what the other side wants. 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.”

4, How do you plan to spend the money in the short, medium and long term?

PG: “We’re definitely, over the fullness of time going to put a bit more budget into the men’s first team. It’s no secret that we’re always one of the bottom four budgets in this division and we’re always one of the favourites to go down.

“We’ve defied it for seven years, but what Dev and his scouting staff do to achieve that is phenomenal. That will carry on, but perhaps we’ll have a bit more money in there to give ourselves more of a fighting chance every season, so that’s a definite.

“We’re on a real upward growth with the women’s team and the women’s development team and the whole section. But we’re struggling for facilities and equipment and things like that so we can do more with that side of the club, and then that leads in the community side of the club which has been flourishing for us anyway. Again, we can do more there.

“But one of our long-term visions is for a training facility. We can’t put anything else on York Road because there isn’t the space. Braywick Park was scuppered by the council so we must look at where we can go. Those projects are active anyway, but hopefully in the next couple of months we’ll be able to let people know a bit more about that.

“There’s some infrastructure work that’s needed at the ground. Some of that is essential but won’t necessarily bring us more revenue. But it’s about how we spend that money to get things rolling on and to keep on producing money once it’s gone. For the long-term benefit of the club, that will be key. We’ll look to get some immediate return for the money and some longer term returns as well.

“All of these things will be looked at. 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.

“We’ll look and see what’s going to give us a benefit straight away and what’s going to give us a benefit over a two-to-three-year window and what’s going to benefit us in the long term. Any money that comes in we can spend, and spend it wisely, but we’re just going to try and get the most bang for our buck.”

5, Will this money potentially allow the men’s first team to go professional in the coming years?

PG: It certainly does. What that looks like and how that would play out remains to be seen. For this season our squad is recruited and we’re firing up and ready to go as we are.

“I don’t think there are many changes planned this year, other than it does give us the opportunity to strengthen the squad.

“This season we’re allowed five substitutes in matches and seven substitutes on the bench. Straight away that favours teams with bigger squads. We may be able to go along that line because we’ve got a bit more financial flexibility.

“There’s some short-term stuff we can do, but as for the part-time versus full-time model, that is the type of thing we believe the club will eventually move towards.

“Whether this hastens that and enables us to do it properly. Because the only reason you do it is if you think you can do it really well. It’s got to be of benefit to the club and it’s not always an automatic success. You’ve got to do it really well. But I would say that’s all part of the plan and it may come into play in future years, yes.”

6, You were interviewed by Sky Sports News just a few hours after Max's transfer was confirmed. Have you enjoyed your moment in the spotlight?

PG: “Not many transfers have gone through for Premier League teams so far, and this angle made it a bit more newsworthy.

“They said that I’d be on for a couple of minutes, but the interview just went on and on. I think at the moment it’s captured the imagination because there haven’t been that many transfers this window so far.

“Listen, in a couple of days, this will be old news and it will be lovely then to have all the benefits of the deal. The publicity will go, but that will go and then we can get down to business.”