West Ham may move on from Kilman after Wolves stick to £45m asking price

Max Kilman (right) in action for Wolves against West Ham in April. Photograph: Rob Newell/CameraSport/Getty Images

Wolves are refusing to budge on their £45m valuation of Maximilian Kilman, forcing West Ham to start thinking about moving on to other defensive targets.

Julen Lopetegui, who is interested in the Southampton full-back Kyle Walker-Peters has made signing a centre-back a priority and Kilman is top of his list. But Wolves insist they are not under pressure to sell their captain and rejected West Ham’s opening bid of £30m plus add-ons last week.

Talks between the clubs have not progressed, despite West Ham’s initial confidence that they would complete the deal swiftly. They are reluctant to pay more than £35m for Kilman, who played for Lopetegui at Wolves. Sources have stressed that the deal is not completely off but at this stage West Ham are ready to look at different centre-backs.

It is thought that Wolves would accept £45m. But if they need funds to comply with the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability regulations then it is felt they would be in line for a bigger windfall if they sold the Portugal winger Pedro Neto.

West Ham will need to think carefully about their budget, especially as their hopes of selling Lucas Paquetá to Manchester City for £85m have been ended by the Brazil midfielder being charged with a breach of the Football Association’s betting regulations.

In terms of centre-backs, they are monitoring Bologna’s Riccardo Calafiori and have tracked Hull City’s Jacob Greaves, who has been targeted by Ipswich Town and Everton.

Ipswich have agreed a deal to sign Ben Johnson, the versatile full-back, on a free from West Ham. Lopetegui needs cover for Emerson Palmieri and Vladimir Coufal in both full-back positions and is looking at Walker-Peters, who has a year left on his deal, and the Manchester United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka. David Moyes, Lopetegui’s predecessor, was not convinced about moving for Walker-Peters, who can play at left-back and right-back.

But West Ham, who are also searching for a striker, remain interested in Walker-Peters and there have been talks with Southampton, who want to sign Flynn Downes on a permanent deal. Downes spent last season on loan at Southampton, playing a key role in their promotion to the Premier League, and West Ham want to sell the midfielder. Meanwhile, it is understood West Ham are unlikely to pursue their interest in the Lille striker Jonathan David.

Chelsea have bid £30m for the Leicester midfielder Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and appear to be ahead of Brighton in the battle to sign the 25-year-old. Dewsbury-Hall played an important role in Leicester’s promotion under Enzo Maresca, who has since taken the Chelsea head coach’s job. Chelsea may offer players to Leicester as part of a deal. Brighton were proposing a swap deal including Jakub Moder.

Ipswich are closing in on a deal to sign the Chelsea winger Omari Hutchinson for £22m. Hutchinson excelled on loan at Portman Road last season and the 20-year-old is keen to link up with Ipswich’s manager, Kieran McKenna, again. Chelsea will not stand in Hutchinson’s way and there is confidence that a deal will be agreed.