West Ham United have agreed a deal for Niclas Fullkrug which is quite simply unbelievable as an overnight update from a reputable Italian journalist beggars belief.
The Hammers are on the hunt for a new striker in the January transfer window and if any game showed why it was the 3-2 defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side couldn’t keep a clean sheet if their lives depended on it.
So West Ham have to score two, three or – as was the case against Villa – four goals to win a football match.
The Hammers are heading for relegation as things stand, sitting three points adrift of safety with Man City away up next.
West Ham hunting new striker to save them from relegation
After that, though, there is a run of very winnable fixtures – on paper at least – where West Ham will simply have to pick up a bounty of points if they are to stay up.
Key to that will be signing the striker the team so sorely needs.
Why do you think Niclas Fullkrug failed?
Flop Niclas Fullkrug has been the latest in a long line of disastrous striker signings since he arrived for £27m from Dortmund last year.
West Ham want to ship Fullkrug out and the ageing, immobile, injury-prone striker wants to leave too.
Hammers News reported on the fact West Ham’s board are keen to offload Fullkrug to Italy rather than Germany.
The reason is that they could reportedly get the guarantee of a decent permanent deal and fee.
Now an unbelievable West Ham deal for Fullkrug has been revealed by an Italian journalist and it beggars belief.
Before the £105m sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal, the Hammers had a reputation for being worse at selling players than they often are at buying them.
Even the Rice deal looks too cheap now with Arsenal taunting West Ham with the nickname ‘half price Rice’.
West Ham rarely get good deals when offloading players, highlighting how poor the club’s recruitment is in the first place.
Even Mohammed Kudus was sold for £30m less than his release clause – and to bitter rivals Spurs to rub salt in the wound.
Journalist reveals unbelievable West Ham deal for Fullkrug
There have been big losses on players in recent years with West Ham taking huge hits on the likes of Sebastien Haller, Felipe Anderson and Maxwel Cornet.
That would be the case if the Hammers were to look to offload the likes of £40m Max Kilman too.
West Ham spent £45m on Haller and ended up taking a £20m loss to sell him to Ajax 18 months later.
Felipe Anderson cost £35m and eventually left for a paltry £3.5m.
The Hammers made a £13m loss on Nayef Aguerd while Cornet cost £17.5m and will likely see out his contract having made three starts given nobody wants to buy him.
They are just some examples. Selling world class talents Dimitri Payet and Marko Arnautovic, who were among the best players around at the time, for just £25m each was laughably bad business.
Now it seems West Ham have outdone themselves.
Because Italian journalist Alfredo Pedulla claims Milan have agreed a deal to sign Fullkrug from West Ham.
And the terms of the reported deal will leave West Ham fans seething with the £27m leaving on a ‘cheap loan’ with no option or obligation to buy included.
Writing on Football Italia, well known transfer insider Pedulla claims Milan are only signing Fullkrug while they wait to bring in main target Dusan Vlahovic in the summer.
West Ham’s ‘cheap’ Fullkrug deal beggars belief
So not only have West Ham – who need funds in order to sign players in January – agreed a straight loan for a player who cost them £27m last summer, there appears to be no fee and no prospect of a permanent sale with Milan in the summer.
The report claims Milan will cover Fullkrug’s wages.
All 57 forwards signed by West Ham United since 2010!
Be honest – How many SUCCESSES can you find in this list?
Another report emerging from Italy overnight says the deal is all agreed on Fullkrug’s side with the Germany forward telling his agent to prioritise a move to the San Siro over a return to his homeland.
But West Ham appear to have plumbed new depths when it comes to moving players on as Fullkrug seems set to depart essentially for nothing with little prospect of a decent fee in the summer, when he will be entering the last year of his contract.
It is also a brainless gamble in many ways by West Ham given Fullkrug’s long history of injuries, which have also blighted his time in east London.
He could easily pick up a serious injury while out on his ‘cheap’ no strings loan, leaving West Ham stuck with him again come the summer.
In terms of a replacement, West Ham have whittled their striker search down to three players according to new information.
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