There are players with unusual routes in football and then there is Max Kilman. In August 2018 Kilman, already 21, was playing non-league football with Maidenhead United, alongside his international futsal career and undergraduate degree. He had been knocked back by Fulham, then Gillingham, and admits he often lost hope of making a career out of the conventional game. 16 months later he was starting a Premier League game at Anfield.
“It was very tough,” remembers Kilman, now of Wolves. “I was quite young, and there were days where I thought ‘football’s not for me, I just want to play for fun and don’t need to take it seriously’.
“It was unbelievable when I found out Wolves wanted to sign me.”
In moments of self doubt Kilman’s Russian-Ukranian parents, themselves a product of peculiar circumstances, kept the young defender’s spirits high.
“My parents were always pushing me and made me keep going,” Kilman says. “I have to pay a lot of credit to them because they’ve helped me become more confident in myself, and not just in football – to stick with it and not give up. I’m grateful.”
Alex and Maria Kilman met at a modelling agency in Moscow. Alex, now an art dealer and poker player, owned the agency and Maria was one of his models. Alex moved to England aged 25 and Maria followed a few years later. Their son speaks Russian at home, and feels his multicultural upbringing serves him well in the Molineux dressing room.
“We’ve got a lot of foreign players and it’s good to understand people’s backgrounds and where they’ve come from,” Kilman says. “It helps us gel more as a squad.”
Kilman is proud of his heritage but was delighted to represent the country of his birth at futsal – something he did 25 times.
Futsal is a highly technical variant of football played indoors with teams of five-a-side and a less bouncy ball. It’s particularly popular in South America, and is credited with shaping the skills of Ronaldinho, Andres Iniesta and Neymar, as well as a host of other stars.
The sport is high-paced, end-to-end, and challenges its players’ technique with greater intensity than its eleven-a-side sister.
Kilman’s calm under pressure and ability on the ball were forged within that environment.
“Futsal helped me a lot with being more comfortable on the ball,” Kilman says. “I feel like I can receive the ball under pressure and be comfortable.
“Getting the ball from a throw-in and being able to feel comfortable despite having players around you comes from playing futsal. It’s a very different game that requires a different kind of fitness and physicality, but it’s been beneficial.”
It was that prowess on the ball, despite Kilman’s 6ft 4in height, that attracted the defender to Wolves scout Matt Hobbs. Hobbs told Kilman he was “quite technical for a big guy” after chancing on the latter playing futsal at an international tournament. Kilman had to go on two separate trials and wait weeks for a decision, but eventually got the news that he had secured the move he had “definitely not” been expecting. He became the first player to move directly and permanently from non-league to the Premier League since Chris Smalling in 2008.
Kilman was thrust from facing physical veterans into a youth side of long-term academy prospects years his junior. Did he feel pressure as the odd-one-out in his new home?
“Definitely,” Kilman admits. “But coming into the under-23s I knew what it had to take and I knew I was going to be playing with players younger than myself.
“I saw it as a good opportunity for me to grow as a player and be in the full-time environment for the first time. I had never been in a club where I’d been training every day. At Maidenhead it was twice a week, so it was good to get in an environment where I could get used to the intensity and demands of the games, and be in every day working hard. I saw it as potentially my only opportunity to go far, and had to make the most out of it.”
Wolves’ emphasis on diet and sports science represented new territory for Kilman, who felt the physical benefits enormously. The high standards in training, and learning from players like Joao Moutinho – who Kilman cites as being particularly impressive – rubbed off too.
Kilman, who has played at left-back and centre-back, naturally suits Nuno Espirito Santo’s tactical system of three defenders. Nuno has described Kilman as “incredible”, and Kilman is more than happy to return the favour.
“To be fair he’s been fantastic,” says the 22-year-old. “He’s helped me become a much better player with the other coaching staff. They work with me a lot and help me so much.”
Nuno demonstrated his faith in Kilman by handing him starts first in the Europa League, then at Bramall Lane and Anfield in December.
The trip to Merseyside could easily have been a baptism of fire, but Kilman shone on the biggest stage. Again, he had Nuno to thank.
“The team was made on the day and I think it was better for me because I didn’t have a day to think about it,” Kilman says. “The boss just said play your game and enjoy it and that was probably the best advice.
“It was surreal when I walked out there but as I started playing I realised it’s just another normal game of football and embraced and enjoyed it.”
Kilman is optimistic about Wolves’ prospects as they prepare to face Espanyol, who are battling relegation in La Liga, in the club’s first European knockout game in 39 years.
“It’s been great, I never thought I’d play in the Europa League,” Kilman reflects. “We can do really well, and have a good chance against Espanyol.
“We just take it game by game, but we’ve got more than enough quality to win it and have a very good squad.”
Considering the last few years Kilman has had, he can be forgiven for dreaming big.
Play from the Back 