Niclas Fullkrug joined West Ham in this summer transfer window from Borussia Dortmund for a transfer fee of £25 million and was expected to be the first choice centre forward for the Hammers this season. This was a massive signing for West Ham who brought in a UEFA Champions League finalist to bolster their attack ahead of this season. Also, West Ham technical director Tim Steidten praised the 31-year-old striker and suggested that he has been brought in to strengthen the centre forward position as Danny Ings and Michail Antonio struggled to score more goals last season.
However, there was a huge surprise when the former Sevilla manager decided to start Michail Antonio ahead of the Germany international in the first Premier League match against Aston Villa. Fullkrug came on as a second half substitute and played around fifteen minutes in that game and revealed his ambition to be the starting centre forward in the season. But in the next two games as well, Antonio started instead of Fullkrug and his performances in the three games have seen West Ham fans wondering as to why manager Julen Lopetegui isn't starting Fullkrug in the centre forward role.
Star striker highlighted playing regularly to avoid injuries
In this international break, Germany took a 5-0 win over Hungary with a goal and a great centre forward performance from Fullkrug. However, an achilles injury in training means that the former Borussia Dortmund striker will miss a few games and the Hammers will highly likely start Michail Antonio again in the upcoming matches. A few years ago, after recovering from an injury, Fullkrug highlighted the importance of playing regularly to feel more fully fit, saying,
"Even at a time when I’d scored, I think I was getting more assured with my fitness and knee with each game, more assured on the ball, even more components came into my play. And that happens when you’re in a rhythm, when you play regularly, when you don’t have any breaks."Niclas Fullkrug
Then, in the last two seasons Fullkrug established himself as one of the most prolific strikers in the Bundesliga scoring a lot of goals for Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund. At West Ham, he has only started the 1-0 win against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup and has come as a second half substitute in the three Premier League games, therefore, it has kept him away from continuing his match rhythm. Hence, this can be a possible reason for this injury and West Ham will hope that Fullkrug recovers quickly and replicates his great goal scoring form at the London Stadium this season.