Considering the sheer volume of Bundesliga clubs linked with a move for Niclas Fullkrug since those comments made by his agent, it’s safe to say the West Ham United striker still has a pretty solid reputation back in Germany.
Speaking earlier this week, the 32-year-old’s representative opened the door to a potential January transfer.
Largely due to those seemingly never-ending fitness issues – Nuno confirmed that Fullkrug will miss Saturday’s Burnley clash following a thigh issue he suffered back in October – West Ham United’s £27 million centre-forward has made only 11 Premier League starts over the course of 15 frustrating months.
Over in his homeland, however, a striker who scored 47 goals in his last three Bundesliga campaigns for Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund still has plenty of admirers.
Hammers News can confirm that David Sullivan will demand a substantial fee should West Ham decide to cash in on Niclas Fullkrug in early-2026. What’s more, West Ham want to have a replacement lined up before they consider any potential offers.
Despite that hardline stance, VFB Stuttgart are one of only a handful of clubs to mentioned as potential suitors, in the aftermath of agent Thorsten Wirth’s eye-opening interview with the TOMorrow Business podcast.
And Alexander Wehrle, Stuttgart’s CEO, was quizzed about those rumours before Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League victory over Feyenoord.
Niclas Fullkrug to Stuttgart rumours addressed as Alexander Werhle speaks on West Ham United striker
Now, Wehrle did not shut down the idea of Fullkrug moving to the Mercedes Benz Arena. He said that, over the coming weeks, the club’s recruitment chiefs will start to draw up solid plans for the January transfer window.
However, Wehrle did also make a point of saying that this Stuttgart squad already has a lot of options. Space for new recruits may be at a premium.
In the centre-forward department alone, the team sitting fourth in the Bundesliga have Portugal Under-21 international Tiago Tomas, the excellent Denis Undaz, and £18.5 million record signing Ermedin Demirovic.
“I won’t comment on any names publicly, otherwise I’d be an amateur,” Wehrle said when Fullkrug’s name was brought up.
“I have complete confidence in the sporting management. We will discuss and decide in the coming weeks what the team needs and what will benefit them.
“[But] we have a large squad. That shouldn’t be forgotten.”
Nuno Espirito Santo is keeping Fullkrug in his plans despite being ruled out for Burnley
It is not known at this stage what David Sullivan would actually consider to be a ‘significant’ sum. Fullkrug still has almost three years left on his contract in East London, though. And West Ham would be understandably reticent to accept a colossal loss on their eye-watering investment.
“I am told they won’t let [Fullkrug] out unless someone comes in, as we expected,” explains Hammers News’ chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey.
Speaking ahead of Burnley’s trip to the capital, Nuno Espirito Santo insisted that Fullkrug will be part of West Ham’s plans as long as he remains in claret and blue. Saturday’s proverbial six-pointer will come too soon, though.
A return after the November international break is seen as most likely.
“Everybody does their job in this industry. My job is to coach. From what I see, we arrived and Niclas played the first two games,” Nuno said, having started the 32-year-old against both Everton and Arsenal last month.
“Unfortunately, he got injured. Now, he’s coming back. If we can get him healthy and ready to go, he is another option for the team. That is how I see it.
[Fullkrug and Konstantinos Mavropanos] are improving, starting to work at different stages. Dino is still [doing] individual work. Niclas is progressing with the group, [but] not all parts of the training session.
“Many players we have to manage; individual programmes, treatments, joining the groups…”
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