West Ham to benefit from £17m windfall as ‘ambitious project’ arrives for Niclas Fullkrug

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The pursuit of West Ham United misfit-turned-AC Milan flop Niclas Fullkrug is not only being contested by clubs in the German Bundesliga.

And as former employers Werder Bremen fear that a Fullkrug return is simply unfeasible from a financial standpoint, the Hammers’ best hope of moving on the 33-year-old frontman may lie outside of German borders.

Sky Sports Germany reported at the end of May that Italian clubs are interested in the ex-Borussia Dortmund ace. One of those, it appears, is none other than Serie A returnees Venezia.

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And the words of sporting director Filippo Antonelli may give West Ham United renewed hope that someone, somewhere, will appear to take Niclas Fullkrug off their hands.

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Niclas Fullkrug could leave West Ham United for Venezia

Like Como – the Cesc Fabregas-led high-flyers who have gone from Serie B to the Champions League in two years – Venezia are ambitious, aggressive, and most certainly not here to make up the numbers.

“We’ve come a long way; this is the third time we’ve returned to Serie A in the last six years,” Antonelli tells Tuttomercatoweb, Venezia determined to make it third time lucky and stay in the top-flight this time.

“We initially had to address financial shortfalls because we’d previously made investments that had a negative impact after relegation, so we made many sacrifices. Two years ago, we tried to create value, and today we’ve made a huge capital gain.”

Antonelli does not reference their reported interest in Fullkrug. But the sporting director does confirm that Venezia are planning to ‘reinvest’ the initial £17 million raised by the sale of Issa Doumbia to Sporting Lisbon on new signings.

“The 20-25 million euros we earned [by selling Doumbia], we’ll reinvest in the transfer market,” Antonelli explains. “Further increasing our budget.”

Fullkrug would cost a mere fraction of the £27 million fee West Ham forked over to Borussia Dortmund in 2023. His hefty wages would, though, prove a test of Venezia’s spending power.

Venezia can offer Fullkrug an ‘ambitious project’ in Serie A

Venezia have already brought in one highly-experienced operator. Ex-Lazio and Croatia midfielder Toma Basic joined at the end of May, admitting that he was lured to La Serenissima by ‘a serious and ambitious project’.

Sky Sport Italia provided an update on Venezia’s striker search on Tuesday morning. They back up that reported interest in West Ham’s number eleven.

Gift Orban, who scored seven Serie A goals for Hellas Verona last season on loan from Hoffenheim, has been lined up as an alternative. As has Albion Rrahmani; the Sparta Prague forward rated at around £6.5 million.

Fullkrug may be 33 these days but, in Serie A years, he is barely out of short trousers.

In the last decade alone, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Olivier Giroud, Edin Dzeko, Luca Toni and Ciro Immobile have ripped the league to pieces in their 30s, while a 39-year-old Jamie Vardy nearly rescued Cremonese from the drop last term.

Venezia also seem happy enough to ignore his forgettable, one-goal loan spell at AC Milan.