Niclas Fullkrug compensation twist emerges at West Ham United after injury update
FIFA will only cover a portion of Niclas Fullkrug’s wages at West Ham United after a new update, according to football finance expert Dan Plumley.
The German forward has been sidelined with an Achilles and calf injury that he sustained while in training whilst away with his national side during the September international break [Kerry Hau, 9 September].
Reports suggest the Irons are due compensation from the FIFA Club Protection Programme [Sean Whetstone, 2 October], but Plumley insists that may not solve all of the Hammers’ issues.
“It gets a little bit technical,” Plumley exclusively told West Ham Zone.
“It will cover part of the wages is the summary answer and what happens here is, clubs are compensated based on the player’s fixed salary for a maximum of 365 days, but it’s calculated on a daily pro-rata basis up to a maximum of £7.5million per injury.
“Crucially, compensation is not payable for the first 28 days of injury, so if it’s a minor injury that’s not covered, so that’s why it will kick in after the 28-day period.
“A final caveat to that is that it should be noted that the programme itself that covers that has an annual fund limit that is capped at €80million at the minute.
“In theory, if there are a large number of claims from a significant number of clubs, that pot could potentially run out.
“That’s the way that it works, so it depends on the nature of the injury, you can’t do anything until after 28 days anyway and then it will be a portion of the player’s fixed salary.”
What has happened to West Ham ace Niclas Fullkrug at the London Stadium?
The Hammers took a financial gamble to bring Fullkrug to the London Stadium this summer. £27million is not a small fee for a player of his age and it was always going to represent a slight risk [BBC Sport, 5 August].
Hopefully, the compensation from FIFA will ease the pain of the German’s injury in and around the London Stadium at this stage as he continues to build up his fitness during the October international break.
In other West Ham news, Jack Grealish has namechecked one Hammers star in a brand-new Euro 2024 admission this season
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