Niklas Furkrug’s condemnation rings out. Tim Steiten is rumored to be West Ham’s £27.5m summer signing (replacing John Duran). Fullkrug had been plagued by fitness issues even before making his full debut for West Ham and was known throughout Germany as a ‘super sub’ rather than a player who played the full 90 minutes.
Apparently, part of the reason his former club Borussia Dortmund let him go was his known fitness issues. So Mick Brown, a former Hammers scout under Moyes, told Footballinsider 247: “One of the reasons the German was sold in the summer was his fitness level.”
West Ham manager Lopetegui must be hunkered down having to rely on the aging duo of Ings and Antonio, as Fullkrug is still unwell and there is no news yet about any form of return to training. The challenges facing the Spaniard are enough without Furkrük’s troublesome calf or Achilles – depending on which reports you believe – still in place since being “injured” against Germany in September. I haven’t let him play.
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West Ham need to make it public what kind of due diligence they carried out before parting with so much money for Fullkrug. Even a cursory check shows that his career has been plagued by major problems with ACL and calf injuries that have dogged his appearances: A quick look at transfermarkt.com itself shows that the player has missed a number of games in his career. Huge number of days.
Flukrug’s injury history convinced Dortmund to sell him
Missed about 2 years due to injury
Since the 2019/19 season, he has missed a total of 643 days due to injury, including 44 days with West Ham this season.
It’s not just Furkrug. Of course, many players experience extended periods of absence, but that does not diminish their success after recovery. But his lengthy absence before making his debut raises questions – when will he be fit and did West Ham ask Dortmund the right questions before committing to his signature? If Mick Brown is to be believed, part of the reason they parted ways with him was injury-related.
I’m not naive enough to suggest he wasn’t subject to a full medical examination process, but when we rejected other players like Tammy Abraham due to “known” ACL issues, we Did he jump on it?
After the event, were we wise or were we in too much of a hurry to buy “someone” after Duran’s cock-up?
