A new report has shared positive noises out of West Ham United regarding striker Niclas Fullkrug.
West Ham team news ahead of Brentford trip
The Hammers fell to another disappointing defeat in the week, with Julen Lopetegui’s side shipping five to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup after conceding three to Chelsea in the Premier League last weekend.
Pressure appears to be building on the new boss to improve both performances and results so early on in the new season, especially after the cash was splashed by the West Ham hierarchy over the summer.
West Ham summer signings
From
Fee (Transfermarkt)
Max Kilman
Wolves
€47.5m
Crysencio Summerville
Leeds United
€29.3m
Niclas Fullkrug
Borussia Dortmund
€27m
Luis Guilherme
Palmeiras
€23m
Mohamadou Kante
Paris FC
Undisclosed
Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Man Utd
€18m
Wes Foderingham
Sheffield United
Free transfer
Guido Rodriguez
Real Betis
Free transfer
Jean-Clair Todibo
Nice
Loan transfer
Carlos Soler
PSG
Loan transfer
West Ham summer departures
To
Fee (Transfermarkt)
Flynn Downes
Southampton
€17.85m
James Ward-Prowse
Forest
Loan
Maxwel Cornet
Southampton
Loan
Nayef Aguerd
Real Sociedad
Loan
Said Benrahma
Lyon
€14.4m
Angelo Ogbonna
Watford
Free transfer
Thilo Kehrer
Monaco
€11m
Nathan Trott
FC Copenhagen
€1.5m
Ben Johnson
Ipswich Town
Free transfer
Joseph Anang
St. Patrick’s Athletic
Free transfer
As can be seen, West Ham were very busy in the recent transfer window, however, one of those signings, Fullkrug, has had a tough start to life at the London Stadium.
The Germany international made four appearances at the beginning of the campaign, one of which was as a starter against Bournemouth. However, the 31-year-old is yet to score and returned from the recent international break with an injury, which led to the Irons being linked with exploring a free agent forward signing.
He hasn’t featured in West Ham’s subsequent games against Fulham, Chelsea or Liverpool and appears to be a doubt for the trip to Brentford this weekend. Lopetegui recently addressed the media ahead of this weekend’s clash with Thomas Frank’s side and hinted that Fullkrug could be a doubt again alongside the suspended Edson Alvarez.
“We will train now and will see again afterwards how they are. We have Edson out and let’s see what will happen with the others between today and tomorrow.
“Unfortunately Fullkrug was not available last night, so we will wait for this afternoon and tomorrow to see for him.”
Report shares new Niclas Fullkrug update from West Ham
A new report from GiveMeSport has shared a positive update from West Ham regarding Fullkrug in what will come as a boost to Lopetegui. They say that the forward is ‘showing good signs in training’ at Rush Green with a likely entry into the starting XI after the upcoming international break in October.
GiveMeSport sources claim that Fullkrug is edging back closer to contention and there are positive signs he is now building up well towards first-team match action.
As we know, with Fullkrug out, the centre-forward burden has been put on the shoulders of both Michail Antonio and Danny Ings, with the latter scoring a late equaliser against Fulham recently.
However, having a fit and firing Fullkrug back as soon as possible is just what the Hammers need, especially after they forked out a big fee for the ready-made striker in the summer. Hopefully, the new positive claims on Fullkrug are accurate, and he can make an immediate impact upon his return. Whether he makes the bench this weekend remains to be seen, though.
