The seldom-seen Niclas Fullkrug was pictured in the West Ham dugout during Cryscencio Summerville’s celebratory hugathon with Mohammed Kudus over the weekend.
As anyone familiar with the London Stadium knows, the dugouts there have a larger capacity than some League One stadiums, so it’s understandable why Martin might have missed Fullkrug when analysing Lucas Paqueta’s body language in Sunday’s highly popular article.
Yet, there he was, standing on his own, unaided, applauding the goal and subsequent cuddle between his teammates. It was great to see him back, and his smile was in stark contrast to Alphonse Areola, who appeared either still fuming at being benched or just annoyed that Kudus received the embrace from the Hammers goal scorer rather than him.
Hopefully, Fullkrug’s return signals that his treatment in Germany was successful and that he can start training again soon. The match against Newcastle United on November 25th still seems the most likely return date, but if things go well, the big German might even make the bench against Everton.
