Wolves made three sales in the summer transfer window including club captain Max Kilman.
Some were surprised by the club’s decision to sanction Kilman’s transfer to West Ham, as the defender joined Julen Lopetegui at the London Stadium.
Gary O’Neil was a great admirer of the Englishman, who played every minute of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign for Wolves.
The Hammers paid £40m to Wolves to sign their former captain, who had been at Molineux for six years.
Nathan Judah makes Max Kilman captain claim after Wolves transfer
While Kilman was a strong servant to Wolves, not many held any reservations about the fee that the club offloaded the centre-back for.
More of the concern has come from the Old Gold opting not to replace the defender, which has caused great problems to the depth of the squad.
Kilman was by no means Wolves’ best player, nor the club’s best option for captaincy, as journalist Nathan Judah pointed out.
Discussing Mario Lemina’s current form at Molineux, the Wolves expert shared his opinion that regardless of Kilman’s transfer, the Englishman would have been relieved of his duties as the skipper.
“I think he [Lemina] was almost the club captain last year really,” Judah said on the E&S Wolves Podcast.
“The way he led on the pitch. It was almost a foregone conclusion that whether Max Kilman was staying or not this season, the captaincy would have changed to Mario Lemina.”
Kilman put in a shift for Wolves in defence but the centre-back’s influence rarely stepped outside of his defensive contribution.
Such has been seen this season already based on how Lemina conducts himself as club captain, with Judah’s opinion ringing true in that sense.
Kilman had a lot to thank Craig Dawson for at Wolves
In a season that saw Wolves’ defence tested, Kilman played every minute of the Old Gold’s 14th-place finishing campaign.
While the Englishman’s contribution was undeniable, a lot can be said about his leadership qualities on the pitch, with Craig Dawson being the driving force behind Wolves’ unity at the back last term.
Switching to a back five was essential for O’Neil, seeing Dawson conduct both Kilman and Toti Gomes as the holding trio.
The 34-year-old came into the side and made it his own, being vocal, experienced and assured, three qualities you’d want from a captain.
As Kilman was rarely any of those things, it becomes more clear as to why some had reservations over his claim to the armband last term.