Niclas Füllkrug’s move from West Ham United to AC Milan is the right one before the World Cup, where he should be in Germany’s squad ahead of Newcastle United star Nick Woltemade.
That’s at least according to Jürgen Klinsmann. He’s strongly advocated for the West Ham flop today on Sky Germany, relayed by Sport 1.
Füllkrug is set to complete a loan move to Milan in the coming days. They’ve moved over the last week to quickly wrap up a deal for the West Ham striker. He’s set to join on loan until the end of the season.
Füllkrug had been pushing to leave the London Stadium for months, particularly after his advisor admitted publicly that the move had been a disaster for his client.
He’s now gotten his wish, with him expected to link up with Milan at the beginning of January. His hope is that he can get his career back on track in Italy and, crucially, get into Germany’s World Cup squad for the summer.
That’s something of a pipe dream at this moment in time. The West Ham man finds himself down the pecking order, particularly behind the likes of Woltemade. He’s been flourishing at Newcastle since arriving in the summer and reminded everyone of his talents with a double against Chelsea last weekend.
He appears destined to be in Julian Nagelsmann’s squad for the summer tournament. If it were up to Klinsmann, though, the Newcastle man wouldn’t be a priority.
“You need Niclas Füllkrug at the World Cup. You need a guy like him who does his job in the box, whether you bring him on for the last 15 or 20 minutes or from the start,” he said.
“He always draws two center-backs towards him. He constantly forces mistakes from the opposing defence.
“He’s (Woltemade) having a fantastic season at Newcastle. It’s incredible what he’s achieving at the moment. But I think Niclas is definitely someone you have to have.
“I think it’s a good move (Füllkrug-Milan). Things didn’t work out at West Ham the way he wanted. This move can only be a good thing, it can bear fruit, especially of course, just six months before the World Cup.”
