West Ham United have not shown any signs that they want to get rid of Niclas Füllkrug in the January transfer window and the striker is determined to repay their faith in him in the coming weeks.
That’s according to Suddeutsche Zeitung, who say talk of an exit from West Ham in January is wide of the mark.
They say that despite increasing suggestions that the summer signing could be moved on and West Ham consider him a flop, the opposite is in fact true.
There are ‘no such signs’ coming out of West Ham at this moment in time and they are supporting Füllkrug completely. He in turn, is completely focused on his recovery from a longstanding injury issue.
The leadership around technical director Tiim Steidten, remain impressed by Füllkrug’s record and believe he fits perfectly with the planning change in playing style they were going for this year.
Thus, they want to back the German and dismiss any talk of an exit in the January transfer window. Putting an exact date on his return is tricky, though, with a ‘severe irritation of his Achilles tendon’ still troubling him.
Such injuries are often caused by over playing and West Ham are focusing on building up Füllkrug carefully so there is no relapse of the issue moving forwards. The hope is that after an extended recovery to now, it is more ‘inflammation’ than irritation, which can be managed.
West Ham even hope that Füllkrug has a similar path to Michail Antonio, who also suffered early on before going onto establish himself as a firm West Ham favourite.
Thus, any talk of giving up early, taking a loss and letting him go in January is wide of the mark. Neither West Ham nor Füllkrug are currently looking to do that despite his struggles.