Napoli are "not far away" from reaching Wolverhampton Wanderers' asking price for their English centreback Maximilian Kilman after their initial bid of £30m was rejected, claims Sky Sports reporter Mark McAdam.
Wolverhampton Wanderers transfer news – What's the latest on Max Kilman?
It hasn't been the start to the summer transfer window that fans of the Old Gold would've been hoping for, with the only incoming of note being Boubacar Traore, who signed a permanent deal after impressing on loan last year, whilst there have been some fairly major outgoings.
Last month the club announced the departure of club captain Ruben Neves, who, after six years with Wolves, was joining Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal in a deal worth £47m.
On top of that, the club have sold Conor Coady to Leicester City for £7.5m and seen Adama Traore, Diego Costa and Joao Moutinho all leave for free.
This lack of spending and inability to keep players is partly due to the club's precarious financial position after spending significant amounts of money over the last few years without seeing much return.
Now there could be one more name out the door at Molineux this month as Serie A champions Napoli have made Wolves defender Kilman one of their primary targets to replace the outgoing Kim Min-jae, per Sky Sports reporter Mark McAdam.
McAdam explained the situation on Sky Sports News (via Football Daily), saying:
"The spotlight is on another defender in Max Kilman, they have rejected an offer from Napoli for Kilman, we understand the offer to be around £30m, Wolves value him at £35m plus. So Napoli not far away, they're losing Kim Min-jae to Bayern Munich, so they need to replace him, and they have identified Max Kilman as the one to do that."
How good is Max Kilman?
To employ one of football's most famous phrases, it was a season of two halves for Wolves last year. The Midlands side looked destined for the drop when they were rock bottom of the league going into the World Cup break, but the arrival of Julen Lopetegui saw them fight back in the second half of the year, eventually finishing in 13th place, seven points above 18th.
Kilman was one of the team's key figures last year and one of the players that helped drag them back into good form.
According to WhoScored, the 23-year-old averaged a respectable match rating of 6.63 across his 37 Premier League starts, winning 2.3 aerial duals a match and achieving a pass completion rate of 83.4.
His regular and reliable performances for the Old Gold have also won him plaudits from the greats in the game, with Pep Guardiola hailing the Englishman as "quality" in 2022.
If he really is on his way to Naples this summer, it could make what was already looking like a tough season next year into something much worse for Lopetegui's side.