Bruno Lage: Wolves youngsters can follow in Max Kilman's footsteps
Boss Bruno Lage reckons other Wolves youngsters have the potential to follow in Max Kilman’s footsteps to become a first-team regular.
Kilman enjoyed a breakthrough season at Molineux, starting 30 Premier League matches before missing the last month of the campaign through injury.
Lage has identified midfielder Luke Cundle as another who could eventually play week-in, week-out in the top flight.
The 20-year-old made his Premier League debut in January’s 3-1 win over Southampton and then caught the eye with an impressive maiden start in a 2-0 victory at Tottenham the following month.
Lage believes Cundle, who subsequently signed a four-year contract at Molineux in April, will benefit from those experiences in the same way Kilman did when he took his first steps in the first XI under Nuno Espirito Santo.
He said: “I think what Max did this season maybe started two or three years ago, with Nuno, when he played two or three games.
“Maybe it’s what we did with Luke this season and maybe in two or three years, we can do the same thing with Luke that we did with Max.”
Lage’s brother and assistant Luiz Nascimento has formed a close link with under-23s boss James Collins, with several players stepping up to train with the first-team over the course of the season.
The head coach is willing to give opportunities to those deserving of one, with Chem Campbell another to have made his Premier League bow this term, coming off the bench in April’s defeat at Newcastle. But the pressure to get results every week in the Premier League means Lage must always strike the balance between experience and youth.
He said: “Maybe Luke and maybe Chem are the guys who are nearer this level because they are working more with us.
“But they (the academy) have a lot of kids, 18, 19, that with time maybe they can take the same path that Max did.
“And I know that, because I did it before. What was important for Max? To play with (Conor) Coady and (Romain) Saiss’ experience; they are there.
“In the future, when Luke comes, Max will have three years with experience, so that’s the kind of things you can get with experience. You cannot put everyone in at the same time because in the end we need to win games and for the club to fight for their goals and to continue in the Premier League.”
“They (the youngsters) were very important in the first half of the season when we just had 14 players and they were so important for us in that period, so we know all the players.
“When you look at the work they did, the under-18s they went to play in the FA Youth Cup semi-final at Man United. The work that they did in the under-23s to get to the final of the cup and get promoted. We can see they do a good job, they have good talents.”
