What do Philippe Coutinho, Lionel Messi and Wolves’ Max Kilman all have in common?

The answer to that question is their journey into their footballing careers has been very similar. The trio have all kick-started their football careers, by playing regular futsal.

Max Kilman has made the bold step from representing the England futsal team, to moving to Premier League new boys, Wolves.

The 21-year-old has called time on his England futsal career after making 25 caps at international level and Kilman admitted it was one of the hardest decisions he has made in his career to date.

“It was definitely the hardest decision I’ve made as I’ve been playing futsal for over six years and I’ve enjoyed it so much and I feel as though I’ve progressed quickly in my ability in futsal.”

“So I’m certainly going to miss it! I’ll still keep track of the results, and I still talk to a number of my England team mates. But ultimately I want to be playing as higher standard as possible in football so I’m really excited for the challenge ahead, but it’s a sacrifice I’ve had to take to persue my career in football!”

Kilman made the move to Wolves, after coming through the ranks at National League side Maidenhead United. He admitted Wolves’ interest came as a surprise to him!

“Yes I was very surprised! I had no idea that Wolves were looking into how I was playing but of course when the move came about, I was really happy.

The defender admitted that he could only dream of a move to a Premier League side in football whilst featuring for England in futsal.

“I was playing futsal because I enjoyed it and of course my dream was always to play football but with futsal I was lucky enough to progress in my futsal career. But I would have never thought that it would lead to a move to a Premier League club in Wolves.”

The former Maidenhead defender outlined what attributes he has found useful from futsal that he can use to his advantage with the Premier League side.

“Being more comfortable on the ball and being more aware of what’s around you but a lot of people perceive it as progressing your technical ability but I don’t see it as dramatically improving it. It certainly teaches you to be able to make quicker decisions in a game situation in football.”

Kilman set out his aims with the Under 23’s side for the current season with Wolves currently sat 2nd in Division 2 of the Under 23’s league with three wins from their last four matches.

“My personal aim is to just play well in games and train hard and to the best of my ability. It’s a completely new environment for me and get used to it! As a team, we’ve been playing really well recently, so we just want to continue winning games.”

“It’s much more physically demanding, everyone’s a lot fitter, training everyday and a lot more running! But I certainly do enjoy the change!”

Kilman had been playing futsal since he was 14-years-old and revealed that he has called time on his futsal career, with his full-time contract with Wolves now in place but revealed representing his country in futsal is one of his biggest achievements in his career so far.

“I think my futsal career is finished now as I’m working full-time with Wolves now and my dream is to be playing football at the highest level possible.”

“There’s been a couple of achievements that have stood out, but playing futsal for England, making appearances for Maidenhead and obviously this move to Wolves recently is definitely up there! But I’ve enjoyed the challenges I’ve faced in my career so far and I’m looking forward to the future!”

Max will be looking to build on some positive performances for Wolves as they take on Sunderland Under 23’s on Monday 24th September.

You can follow Max on Twitter here! (@Maximilian237)

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