Niclas Füllkrug and West Ham United – it’s just not worked out so far. The striker himself is clear about the last few months – but he has no grudges.
It’s been pretty quiet around Niclas Füllkrug in recent months. After his transfer from Dortmund to West Ham United, the national player was out of action for a long time with an Achilles tendon injury. Three brief appearances at the beginning of the season were followed by the international break. It was then that Füllkrug scored for the national team, making it 1-0 in the 5-0 win against Hungary. After that, the complaints started.
“A constant wait” followed, as he now recounts in the ‘Copa TS’ podcast. ‘To put it bluntly, things were pretty awful for me too,’ he says, looking back. It goes without saying that he had ‘completely different goals.’
Füllkrug remains ‘quite relaxed’
Then, at the beginning of December, came the ray of hope. A return to team training, a substitute appearance for Leicester City and a late goal (his first for West Ham) in the 3-1 defeat. This was followed by another game on the bench and another substitute appearance. “I’m still relaxed about my playing time,” Füllkrug said of his five league appearances in total. ‘I still need a bit more time to get to my top performance.’ Before the game against Leicester, he had only taken part in one team training session.
Coach Julen Lopetegui had recently warned against overly high expectations and put the brakes on: “He will certainly not be at his best because he first has to regain his fitness – three months is a long time without games.” In December, the Hammers still have three games, three chances for more playing time.
Meanwhile, things are not looking particularly rosy for West Ham in the league. The Londoners are ranked 14th – far from the international places. This is a fact that the striker was well aware of even before his move.
No hard feelings from Füllkrug
Füllkrug reported on intensive discussions before making his decision. “Because I knew I was taking a step deeper and taking a certain risk that I wouldn’t play internationally next year, maybe the year after that either, and making a big, big move,” the 31-year-old continued.
Füllkrug has no grudges, not even against Borussia Dortmund. “It was totally fair for everyone,” he says, looking back on the move.
