Julen Lopetegui admits Niclas Fullkrug uncertainty at West Ham United already
Julen Lopetegui has admitted he doesn’t know when Niclas Fullkrug will be fit to return for West Ham United.
The Spaniard shared the latest on Thursday afternoon [17 October] ahead of the trip to Tottenham, for which Fullkrug’s absence has been confirmed again.
The German international’s last outing before an Achilles tendon injury came for his nation on 7 September, scoring against Hungary in a 5-0 win – but he has only played four times for the Hammers so far and is yet to get off the mark.
As quoted by Kicker [17 October], Lopetegui explained: “Fullkrug is out. At the beginning, he had a not-so-serious injury, but then there were little complications with the injury.
“I don’t know, I’d rather not say anything. Hopefully, he’s ready [within] the next games.”
West Ham United will miss Niclas Fullkrug
Lopetegui has not yet started Fullkrug in a Premier League match, the 31-year-old’s sole appearance in the first XI coming with little impact nor service in a 1-0 win over Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup.
The head coach has preferred long-time Hammers servants such as veteran Michail Antonio, who rubber-stamped his place in the side with a terrific display against Ipswich Town last time out.
Fullkrug was firstly unfortunate with the team selection dilemma, and now the injury absences have wrecked his start to life in the Premier League.
For the next couple of years at least, the hope remains that Fullkrug can gather momentum once back and put the difficult start behind him, having shown a superb goalscoring knack and a rare ability as a late bloomer which can continue in the twilight years of his career.
For now, Lopetegui must put faith in his old guard, such as Antonio, Danny Ings, Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus to shift the Hammers through the period without their German powerhouse.
In other West Ham news, the club have been linked with a left-footed winger in Europe.
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