West Ham United striker Niklas Füllkrug has insisted he has no intention of leaving the club this summer, despite a disastrous year at the London Stadium.
Kicker have an interview with the striker today in which he insists he won’t be turning his back on West Ham in the near future.
He joined West Ham in a €30m deal from Borussia Dortmund in the summer after an impressive year with the German side in which he’d been a key player in their run to the Champions League final.
He’s been unable to replicate that at West Ham as a series of injuries have limited him to just 21% of the available minutes in the Premier League so far.
He has just 15 appearances under his belt but has still managed three goals and two assists in those games, showing glimpses of his quality when he has been able to.
And he intends to start adding to that tally as soon as possible, with no plans to turn his back on West Ham anytime soon.
“I didn’t join a club at 32 to use it as a springboard,” he said.
“Of course, as a player, you take a certain risk before a transfer if the club isn’t yet where you’d like to be, and that’s playing internationally – because that’s where I, and West Ham, come from. But I still believe that it’s possible given the conditions here. I’m devoting myself entirely to this task.
“Well, I’ve never had any intention of leaving West Ham—and that’s not even on my mind right now. Because I’m really enjoying this job at the moment. I find a challenge like this appealing: moving to a club that isn’t yet where you want to be.”
It’s been a miserable year on the injury front for the striker, who arrived at the London Stadium on the back of a very impressive year at Borussia Dortmund.
It was also an extremely busy one for the striker, though, as he managed 46 appearances and 3305 minutes in all competitions for his club and then played in five games for Germany at Euro 2024 as well.
He thinks that’s contributed to his injury laden first year at West Ham, in which he’s managed a total of 755 minutes in all competitions.
“After a season in which I played in 58 competitive matches, I simply lacked a thorough preparation after the European Championship,” he said.
“I had one week of training—and then the Premier League started, and my first three games weren’t good.”
“I also believe it’s no coincidence that so many muscle injuries have occurred this season – even among young, normally fairly well-off players. My thigh injury was actually relatively unusual for my style of play.
“Before that, it was my Achilles tendon – and in between, I was only fit for six weeks. You can’t predict something like that, and there was certainly some bad luck involved: I just had a bad shoe – I can’t say it here.”
