Wolves hero Lee Naylor names ‘massive’ transfer decision that makes him ‘nervous’ this season

Ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Lee Naylor has admitted he is ‘nervous’ about his former club’s chances of success heading into the new Premier League season and believes one major transfer decision could be hugely detrimental to the squad this term.

Wolves open the campaign with a trip to title hopefuls Arsenal and for the first time in six years will be starting the season without defensive stalwart Max Kilman.

The 27-year-old joined West Ham United in a £40m deal this summer after an impressive six-year spell at Wolves which saw him play 127 league matches in total, including every minute of the 38 game season last year - a feat only matched by one other outfield player in Arsenal’s William Saliba.

Kilman’s sale saw the club generate a huge profit on a player that had only cost them £40,000 when he arrived from Maidenhead United in 2018.

Naylor, who made 293 league appearances for the Old Gold between 1997 and 2006, believes Kilman will be a massive miss and believes replacing him is going to be a ‘huge job’ this summer.

Speaking to the Wolves club website, he explained: “Losing Max is massive. I can’t tell you. For me being a (former) defender, he was the main guy. Losing him is massive. Replacing him is going to be an even bigger job. People have got to step up and that’s where I’m a bit nervous.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful, but what’s in the building at the moment is not as good as Max.”

Kilman was a great ball playing defender with tremendous leadership qualities and the ability to offer his team real solidity at the back. 

As it stands, Bastien Meupiyou of Nantes has been mentioned as one possible target to fill the defensive void. He is highly-rated from his time with France’s U17 team and is seen as one for the future. However, the 18-year-old has just one first team appearance in Ligue 1 which ended with him being sent off after just nine minutes against Marseille.

A more experienced option who has also emerged - according to Molineux News - is Switzerland international Nico Elvedi. He, like Kilman, is renowned for his leadership and has played in the German Bundesliga for the last nine years, amassing over 260 top-flight appearances.