Niclas Fullkrug already has eyes on West Ham exit door after Brighton no-show
Niclas Fullkrug’s anonymous display against Brighton on Saturday suggests his heart is no longer set on making his West Ham United career work.
Fullkrug started a Premier League game up front for the first time in his Irons career on 22 December, but Julen Lopetegui could have been mistaken for thinking he had only named 10 players by mistake.
Hardly involved on the ball and useless when he was, Fullkrug’s performance in the 1-1 draw was one of a player struggling for rhythm, and potentially distracted as reports of an early exit in January swirl.
The German international is yet to produce anything like the form which made him a Champions League finalist last season, and with the Irons lining up new strikers already [TuttoMercatoWeb, 17 December], his time could well be up.
Niclas Fullkrug nowhere for West Ham United v Brighton
Given Fullkrug’s Hammers career has been hugely beset by injuries and disruptions so far – restricting him to just seven appearances and two starts – the jury remains out on whether he’ll be a success or not.
However, his display on Saturday suggests it’ll be the latter; hooked just 57 minutes into the contest with Lopetegui’s side needing a goal – which came less than a minute later through Mohammed Kudus.
In this 57 minutes, Fullkrug managed just 13 touches and a mere eight attempted passes – with just one coming off at a success rate of 13 per cent [SofaScore] – as well as a single shot, which was blocked.
Both of the German’s attempted long passes failed to find a man, and Fullkrug wasn’t the best at getting on the end of them either, being caught offside once and having just three touches in the Brighton box.
Involved in eight duels in a largely dour contest, Fullkrug lost eight and won just two [FotMob], with none of his three ground duels proving successful and just 29 per cent of his seven in the air.
A further three fouls were committed by the 31-year-old as he put in one of the worst displays seen by a striker this season, and Lopetegui will be crestfallen that his big-money striker’s first start went so badly.
In other West Ham news, one out-of-work manager has been advised to wait for the London Stadium job to become vacant again.
For more West Ham news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp channelfor instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.