While free transfer signing Callum Wilson was scoring West Ham’s winner at Spurs, Niclas Fullkrug’s move to Milan went from bad to worse.
Niclas Fullkrug has been a walking disaster since he signed for West Ham in a £27m move 18 months ago.
Nothing highlights West Ham’s poor judgement when it comes to the recruitment of strikers more than Fullkrug.
The German arrived to much fanfare from many in an expensive deal for a player the wrong side of 30 with a history of serious injuries.
After spending the majority of his debut season out injured, West Ham went out and signed another ageing and injury-prone forward on a free transfer in the shape of Callum Wilson.
Fullkrug sums up West Ham’s woeful striker recruitment
When Fullkrug’s struggles continued this term, Wilson emerged as the Hammers’ best and most reliable option.
And he has proved a much better bet despite not being wanted by most fans and costing the club nothing.
Pretend you call the shots – what are you doing over Callum Wilson’s future?
Match winner 😍
Wilson’s form saw Fullkrug wanting out and West Ham could not wait to ship him – and his £100k plus wages – out of the door in January.
In fact the Hammers were so keen to offload Fullkrug, they let him join up with Milan 10 days before the January window even opened so he could train with his new side after so long without proper game time.
West Ham fans quip that Fullkrug ended up doing more interviews and videos for their website than he played matches and scored goals during his dismal 18 months in east London.
Fullkrug scored just three times before leaving for Italy on a loan deal until the end of the season.
It says everything about West Ham’s woeful recruitment that Milan have an option to make the deal permanent for just £4m – a £23m loss on the original outlay.
Including salary, Fullkrug cost West Ham a staggering £34m for his 18 months in east London – £11m per goal.
Fullkrug delivered a brutal statement about his West Ham exit and revealed his intentions for the final year of his Hammers contract if things don’t work out in Italy.
As West Ham beat Spurs Fullkrug hits new low after bitter blow
It is fair to say so far they haven’t.
First Fullkrug was injured just 106 minutes into his Milan career, breaking a toe in yet another injury to add to his growing list.
Why do you think Niclas Fullkrug failed?
Now as West Ham were beating Spurs, flop Fullkrug was hitting new low after a bitter blow at Milan.
Fullkrug reportedly never settled in London and disliked it from the start.
He may struggle to adapt in Milan too, it seems.
Fullkrug is yet to find somewhere to live in Italy and has been staying in a hotel.
Despite breaking his toe, West Ham fans will be surprised to learn Fullkrug made an uncharacteristically speedy return to the Milan fold just a week later.
The German came off the bench in the 3-1 win at Como.
But his Milan move went from bad to worse when he was back at his hotel room following a training session.
Fullkrug’s hotel room reportedly robbed of four luxury watches
Fullkrug reportedly discovered he had over £430k of jewellery stolen from the safe in his room.
The Repubblica newspaper claims Fullkrug left the hotel for a training session on Wednesday morning, then returned to find the safe in his room had been forced open.
It is reported that Fullkrug had four luxury watches stolen to the value of nearly half a million pounds.
The newspaper reports that the on loan West Ham forward is now working with local police and authorities to try and identify potential suspects while the room was dusted for evidence.
Fullkrug may feel like his career has hit a new low. But he is not alone as footballers across Europe have been targeted by thieves with a spate of thefts and robberies in Italy over the last few years in particular.
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