Even by West Ham’s usual standards in the transfer market, Niclas Füllkrug has been something completely different. Planet Fotball is once again keen to endorse the London club’s sporting director Tim Steidten.
Believed to be Tim Steidten’s brainchild, Füllkrug was signed for £27 million from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2024. He was already 31 years old, and the deal already smelled stronger than blue cheese.
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The Hammers have always had the opposite of the midas touch when it comes to signing strikers, but giving Füllkrug a four-year contract caused a pandemic of raised eyebrows across the Premier League’s board.
“The big fucking German”, as he was briefly dubbed by supporters, has scored just three goals in 28 appearances for the club, and is now sneaking out on loan to AC Milan.
His only memorable contribution was a scathing interview after last year’s 1-1 draw with Southampton, in which he called his teammates ‘shit’ and suffered the humiliation of a public reprimand from Graham Potter.
Meanwhile, Steidten left his job in January 2025. He is lucky to avoid a prison sentence for the Füllkrug agreement.
While it says a lot about modern football economics that a failed West Ham striker can move to a true European giant, albeit one in relative need, other referees are even more damning.
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Indeed, forget Antony, Mykhailo Mudryk and Nicolas Pépé; Füllkrug is arguably the worst transfer in Premier League history.
While the Hammers are rich in money in global terms, they cannot afford to write off failed signings in the same way as the Premier League elite.
Manchester United received £21.6 million for Antony and have bought several expensive attackers to replace him. Chelsea have signed an entire squad of wingers to displace Mudryk.
While Arsenal simply gave Pépé a free transfer and paid out the final year of his contract. These options are not realistically available to West Ham.
So Füllkrug’s loan deal with Milan does not involve a mandatory purchase clause and is only for six months.
He will return to East London in the summer, with his tail stuck between his legs, with little return value and West Ham likely to be a Championship club.
The German international – although his humiliating Premier League stint now threatens that status – is likely to find Serie A’s slower pace better suited to his spaghetti limbs.
West Ham must quickly find a replacement in the January window. The latest rumours are that they are in talks with Wolves striker Jørgen Strand Larsen.
Strand Larsen will be another typical Sullivan buy, bought from the relegation ditch on a long contract with no thought of how he can actually fit into the team. West Ham’s whole method seems to be last-minute shopping from clubs in need, when they have been relegated (or effectively relegated in Wolves’ case).
Lessons are learned, stubbornness is not learned. There are fears of more Championship attackers whose careers are ruined by the Hammers next season.
At a time when top-flight scouting is sophisticated and young players are prioritized, the investment in Füllkrug was something from a bygone era where major tournaments served as shopping channels.
This was the most obvious failure in years, and West Ham will feel the effects long after the German’s permanent departure.
Füllkrug is the face of a club that still operates in the long 2000s. With all the context, he is the worst signing in Premier League history.
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