Niclas Fullkrug’s agent certainly got tongues wagging when he suggested that a January departure from the Premier League and West Ham United may be on the cards.
Though, as Hammers News have learned, things are unlikely to be quite so simple.
Chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey has revealed that West Ham may sell Fullkrug if a replacement is found, but only if a replacement is found.
Understandably, given that Callum Wilson and Callum Marshall are the only other centre-forward options at Nuno Espirito Santo’s disposal, the Londoners are wary of leaving themselves short in such a key department.
But, if Niclas Fullkrug does indeed say his goodbyes early in 2026, where will West Ham United’s injury-hit Germany international end up next?
Marcel Reif, a legendary Bundesliga pundit over in Germany, feels that Hamburg could do a lot worse than to try and tempt Fullkrug back home.
Marcel Reif talks up Hamburg move for West Ham United’s Niclas Fullkrug
Back in the top-flight after seven seasons away, Hamburg are currently sitting three points above the relegation zone. However, with only eight to their name, HSV are also the joint-lowest scorers in the Bundesliga.
Ransford Konigsdorffer, their luckless centre-forward, is yet to break his duck despite starting all nine matches so far.
So Reif argues that, presuming Hamburg have the financial might to make a deal happen, a striker who scored 56 Bundesliga goals for Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen and Nurnburg could come in very handy.
It is not only the six-time German champions who could benefit from such an arrangement either. In a World Cup year, those fallen out of favour with their national teams are often reliant upon the January window. Take Joshua Zirkzee, for instance.
Ronald Koeman omitted the West Ham-linked Zirkzee form the Netherlands squad last month. He is likely to do the same in the summer of 2026, unless something changes. Fullkrug may suffer the same fate under Germany with Julian Nagelsmann.
“Fullkrug has really fallen under the radar. He gambled and lost in England,” Reif tells BILD. “He certainly had confidence in himself. But then came injuries and consequently adjustment problems.
“On top of that, he’s at a club that’s languishing at the bottom of the table, far below his expectations. A return to the Bundesliga, where he became a national team player? Why not?”
“[For a club like Hamburg], strikers who can score more than eight goals [a season] are always helpful, and he can do that.”
Agent Thorsten Wirth explains why Fullkrug has struggled in the Premier League
Fullkrug has found the net only three times in 11 Premier League starts, fifteen months on from that reported £27 million transfer.
Agent Thorsten Wirth feels Fullkrug is on a hiding to nothing in English football, too. The ex-Dortmund talisman is set to return for West Ham imminently – perhaps before Saturday’s clash with Burnley – but, even when fit, his impact has been pretty minimal.
“[A sale] always has to happen in coordination with the club, but I think it might make sense to make a change,” Wirth told the TOMorrow Business podcast.
“Many would probably agree that Niclas is a classic penalty-area striker – strong in the air, physically powerful, able to shield the ball – basically made for the Premier League.
“[But] in retrospect, you have to say the transfer didn’t work. There’s no sugar-coating it.
“Time and again, just when you thought, ‘now he’s coming, now he’ll show England it wasn’t just a good Euro and then nothing afterwards’, another injury came. And that’s a shame.
“He’s had a bit of negative momentum and also some bad luck.”
In terms of potential replacements, Real Madrid benchwarmer Endrick looks set for Lyon. A combination of his £100,000-a-week wages, plus a loan fee, means the Brazilian teenager is out of West Ham’s reach.
Furthermore, as David Ornstein tells NBC Sports, Manchester United have no plans to let Zirkzee go in January at this stage. Ivan Toney is expected to stay in Saudi Arabia. And one suspects that Sean Dyche will look to keep Chris Wood at Nottingham Forest, having worked with the New Zealand frontman so closely at Burnley.
Hammers News can confirm, though, that West Ham have been ‘offered’ Flamengo ace Pedro and Cruzeiro’s one-time Juventus youngster Kaio Jorge.
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