AC Milan eye permanent striker deal after Niclas Fullkrug agreement at West Ham
Niclas Fullkrug left West Ham to join AC Milan on loan in January.
Things just never worked for Fullkrug since his move from Borussia Dortmund to the London Stadium back in the summer of 2024.
His time in East London was injury-riddled and saw Fullkrug regularly miss out for West Ham with various fitness concerns.
It didn’t come as a surprise when Fullkrug was linked away from West Ham in January, although a San Siro switch did raise eyebrows.
Fullkrug now finds himself featuring regularly off the bench for AC Milan, something which looks set to prompt a summer transfer move.
AC Milan want permanent striker signing in the summer
West Ham replaced Fullkrug with Taty Castellanos in January, a deal that has certainly benefited the Hammers in forward areas.
The Argentine has two goals already under his belt in claret and blue, just one less than his German counterpart managed in one and a half seasons.
That looks likely to represent positive business in East London, especially if the Serie A giants are to activate their buy option in the summer.
Fabrizio Romano reported in December that Milan have a non-mandatory clause to sign Fullkrug for £12million in the summer.
There will now be questions over whether that will be possible after Fichajes reported on Tuesday that another permanent striker signing is wanted at San Siro.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side are eyeing potential moves for Moise Kean, Serbian Dusan Vlahovic and Gabriel Jesus ahead of the summer.
After the loan signing of Fullkrug and a failed effort to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta, the Milan hierarchy don’t want to experiment with their next forward signing.
West Ham can bank £12m for Fullkrug
The idea that Milan don’t want to take any risks with summer signings in forward areas could represent good news at the London Stadium.
Fullkrug has already scored at San Siro, having netted the winner in a 1-0 victory against Lecce mid-way through January.
If he can continue to have a positive impact in Serie A moving forward, a permanent deal at £13m will only increase in likelihood.
West Ham will be only happy to bring those funds in to put towards their warchest, whether they’re in the Premier League or Championship.
They just need to hope that the German thrives in Italy and helps bag them a positive fee ahead of the upcoming summer window.