Niclas Fullkrug left West Ham United to join AC Milan early on in the January transfer window.
Fullkrug spent 18 months with West Ham before leaving to join Milan on loan, having joined the club from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2024 for just under £30 million.
Tim Steidten brought Fullkrug to West Ham and recently insisted that he doesn’t regret signing his fellow German.
Just after the Germany international’s arrival at West Ham, Steidten absolutely raved about Fullkrug, hailing him as a fantastic signing for the club.
Why do you think Niclas Fullkrug failed?
However, the 31-year-old never got going at the London Stadium and it was painfully obvious to see from the start that he was the wrong fit for the Hammers.
Now Fullkrug himself has opened up on life in Milan and he dropped a big hint as to why he failed to succeed at West Ham.
Niclas Fullkrug drops hint as to the reason for his West Ham struggles
The 32-year-old German has played six games for Milan so far, scoring just one goal for the Serie A giants.
However, he seems to be more than happy at the San Siro.
Fullkrug has opened on life in Milan, as quoted by MilanNews.
“I love the Italian culture, I already feel at home,“ the Germany international said.
“I feel so comfortable here, I feel at ease. I’m happy, my family is happy, we like the way the people are. The people are very warm.
“Obviously, Milan is a very special club, and everywhere I go, I see love from the fans, and that makes life much easier.”
Fullkrug is clearly hinting there that he prefers life in Milan to London.
Good luck to him too. He should never have been signed by West Ham in the first place and his struggles at the London Stadium should serve as a real warning for the Hammers moving forward.
Niclas Fullkrug was a poor fit for West Ham from the start
Fullkrug simply wasn’t mobile enough to succeed in the Premier League.
Moving to the Premier League from the Bundesliga at the age of 31 was always going to be a challenge for the German.
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And it proved to be one that he was unable to overcome in the end.
The Hammers should have gone all out to sign Jhon Duran in the summer of 2024 – a young striker with explosive pace and impressive finishing ability.
The signing of Fullkrug has really set West Ham back as a club. Given his age, the Hammers quite clearly grossly overpaid for him.
Hopefully he performs well during his loan spell with AC Milan so that the Italian giants are more tempted to sign him permanently in the summer.
Fullkrug was a disastrous signing for West Ham and the fact that the recruitment team couldn’t see that at the time is utterly mind-boggling.
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