Julen Lopetegui responds to Niclas Fullkrug after West Ham striker's 'risky' transfer assessment

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·20 de diciembre de 2024

Julen Lopetegui responds to Niclas Fullkrug after West Ham striker's 'risky' transfer assessment

The 31-year-old has struggled for fitness since his £27m summer transfer

Julen Lopetegui says Niclas Fullkrug will become an important player for West Ham in response to the striker’s recent outburst.

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The Germany international arrived in east London during the summer transfer window in a £27m deal from last season’s Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund.

However, Fullkrug’s start to life in England has been hampered by an achilles injury which has limited him to just five Premier League appearances, with his only start coming in the Carabao Cup second round win over Bournemouth back in August.

Opening up on his time with the Hammers so far in an interview with German podcast Copa TS, Bild lead with the “absolutely awful” line from the 31-year-old with regards to his ‘risky’ move to England.

"Of course, I also had very intensive discussions about such a risky step,” he added, as translated by Sport Witness. "Because I knew that I was taking a step deeper and taking a certain risk that I wouldn’t play internationally (in Europe) next year, maybe not the year after that either, and that I would make a big, big change.

“I was aware of that, I communicated a lot with the coach, spoke a lot with Tim Steidten, who I know from my time at Bremen, which is how we got in touch so closely.

"Of course, we had completely different goals. Things were going really badly for me too, to put it bluntly."

Frustrated: Niclas Fullkrug has opened up on his time at West Ham so far.

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Lopetegui has since responded to these comments by insisting the team are going to need Fullkrug in their bid to stay in the Premier League this season.

“He had one injury unfortunately for us and for him for three months he was out of the team,” Lopetegui said. “After that is to recover the rhythm and to be ready for the rhythm of the demanding Premier League.

“Step by step he is better and I am sure he is going to become an important player for us.

“He’s a very good player, for sure the team is going to need him and that’s good news for us.”

Fullkrug will be hopeful of making his first Premier League start on Saturday as the Hammers look to make it three games unbeaten when they welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the London Stadium.