As reported by Fabrizio Romano on Twitter, West Ham United are set to sign striker Niclas Füllkrug for a fee of £23 million (€27 million).
In a major development on Saturday morning, Borussia Dortmund released a statement confirming Füllkrug’s imminent departure:
“Niclas Füllkrug has left the training camp in Bad Ragaz…. Borussia Dortmund has released the striker for talks with another club”.
Thus, it’s safe to assume this deal will be announced very soon.
Who is Niclas Füllkrug?
Niclas Füllkrug is a 31 year old centre-forward who, at 6 ft 2 in (188 cms) is a classic target man striker, but his rise to the top has been unusual.
After failing to break into the Werder Bremen first team, he spent time with lower-division clubs Greuther Fürth, Nürnberg and Hannover, before rejoining die Grün-Weißen in 2019, but it wasn’t until the 2021/22 season that his career took off.
That year, Füllkrug scored 19 goals in 33 Zweite Bundesliga appearances as die Werderaner were promoted back to the top-flight, before scoring 16 goals in the Bundesliga during the following campaign, making him the division’s joint-top scorer, ending the campaign sharing the Kicker-Torjägerkanone with Christopher Nkunku, who earned a £52 million move to Chelsea as a result.
Well, Füllkrug was on the move too, joining Borussia Dortmund for around £12.5 million last summer, scoring 15 goals in all competitions for die Schwarzgelben, including netting during home victories over Newcastle, Atlético Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain en route to the Champions League Final at Wembley.
He is even more prolific at international level, making his senior debut against Oman in a pre-World Cup warm-up match in Muscaṭ, doing so at the age of 29 years and 280 days, the second-oldest German to debut for die Mannschaft, marking the occasions by being the only scorer in a 1-0 win that night.
Overall, Füllkrug had netted 13 times in just 21 caps to date, including finding the target against both Spain and Costa Rica at that aforementioned World Cup, before also scoring twice at this summer’s Euros, doing so during group phase games against Scotland and Switzerland.
Julian Nagelsmann introduced Füllkrug as a substitute in all five of Germany’s matches, replacing Kai Havertz each time, but he’ll surely be more of a regular started in East London.
West Ham’s summer spending spree continues
It’s already been a busy summer at West Ham United as the Julen Lopetegui era gets underway.
Led by technical director Tim Steidten, who’s fronting the Irons’ recruitment, the club have already brought in Max Kilman from Wolves for £40 million, Luis Guilherme from Palmeiras for £25.5 million and, slightly less excitingly, back-up goalkeeper Wes Foderingham on a free from Sheffield United.
Meantime, Crysencio Summerville is on the cusp of arriving from Leeds United in a deal reportedly worth £25 million.
With Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paquetá and Mohammed Kudus already in the squad, Guilherme having already signed and Summerville seemingly on his way, this new-look West Ham are set to be very exciting when their campaign commences at home to Aston Villa on 17 August.
