Niclas Fullkrug hasn’t enjoyed the greatest start to life with West Ham United has he.
West Ham paid around £22.5 million to bring Niclas Fullkrug to the London Stadium from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window – a fee that could rise to £27.5 million with performance related add-ons.
Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten worked alongside one another in the summer, and settled on Fullkrug as an option after their pursuit of Jhon Duran hit a dead end.
That now looks like a very big mistrake.
Fullkrug is still out with an injury, and it has been claimed that there are concerns within the club about his general fitness as well.
No return date is pencilled in for the former Dortmund man yet, and every week that passes without him in the squad leads to more pressing questions for Lopetegui and Steidten.
You won’t believe what West Ham striker Niclas Fullkrug said in August
I actually feel sorry for the German.
Not only was he eased into action too slowly by Lopetegui in my opinion, but he also suffered an incredibly unfortunate and untimely injury during the last international break.
However, something he said back in August will be making him cringe right now.
When he signed for West Ham in the summer, Fullkrug made a truly staggering admission.
The German suggested that he was in the best shape of his life.
“I have a very good feeling at the moment – I’m strong, fit and in the best shape – and I just want to get out there and start playing for them.”
Those remarks now look rather silly.
He was definitely unfortunate with the problem he picked up whilst on international duty with Germany, but his injury record is a concern.
Since the start of the 2018/19 season, he has missed 89 games through injury, including an entire season on the sidelines due to a ruptured ACL (Transfermarkt).
That’s a huge worry as far as I’m concerned.
Fullkrug needs time to adapt
When the 31-year-old returns to action, we all need to be patient with him, and give him plenty of time before we make a proper judgement on him.
Fullkrug is a proven striker, and he has a track record of producing the goods at Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen and Germany.
He is a proper old-school type striker, and if Lopetegui gets his wingers operating closely to him, there’s no reason why he won’t be able to succeed with the Hammers.
However, the outlook seems very bleak for him right now.
Niclas Fullkrug will need to rack up at least 12 goals for West Ham this season if he is to be viewed as a success.
Right now though, we don’t even know when he will return to action.
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