The Athletic's resident renowned English West Ham United team correspondent Roshane Thomas, exclusively reported on Wednesday that West Ham's Germany international center forward Niclas Füllkrug intends to leave the club during the January transfer window.

According to Thomas, Füllkrug is tired of suffering his long-term injury woes and repeated broken promises that was made to him since joining the Hammers, hence leading to his growing desire to leave the club.

Füllkrug believes that the club's promises which were made to him when he joined the club last summer to continuously strengthen the team and help West Ham break through to become the next club to consistently qualify for European competitions have not only failed to be fulfilled, but have instead led to a series of managerial changes that have caused the club to lose its identity.

All these problems have made him increasingly feel that the club's plans and vision have stagnated, seriously affecting his chances of being selected for the Germany national team.

With the FIFA World Cup in United States, Canada and Mexico looming next year, it's reasonable that Füllkrug would want a transfer to maintain his hopes of being included in the Germany national team's squad.

Thomas added that, according to his sources, Füllkrug has been approached by several clubs through his agent regarding a transfer.

However, it's worth noting that AC Milan, which was repeatedly mentioned by someone (our website's female rumourmonger Ms. Titan) last summer, is not on this list.

Currently, all clubs that have made initial approach with Füllkrug and his agent are Bundesliga clubs; however, none have explicitly expressed their determination to sign him. Therefore, it's too early to reveal which German club is interested in signing Füllkrug.

Furthermore, according to the British online media outlet HITC Sports, if Füllkrug confirms his departure, he will be the 30th first-team striker at West Ham United in the past 10 years to want to leave the club due to ideological differences.

The last player to part ways with West Ham United due to ideological differences was Danny Ings, the former Liverpool and England international striker who joined from Aston Villa for £15 million in the 2023 winter transfer window. Since then, due to frequent managerial changes, he has completely lost his scoring ability.

About Niclas Füllkrug

The 32-year-old Niclas Füllkrug was born on February 9, 1993, in Hanover. He is 1.89 meters tall, he plays as a center forward. He comes from a family with three generations of professional footballers, all playing the center forward position.

As a child, Füllkrug played in the youth academy of Ricklingen, trained by his father. His outstanding performances earned him a chance to join Werder Bremen's youth academy at the age of 14.

In the summer of 2011, Füllkrug began playing for Werder Bremen's reserve team. The following January, he completed his Werder Bremen first-team debut by coming on as a substitute in a Bundesliga match against Bayer Leverkusen.

In August 2013, Füllkrug was loaned-out to Greuther Fürth. During his time there, he scored a hat-trick in just 12 minutes in a match that November, drawing significant media attention.

The following July, Füllkrug moved to Nürnberg for €250,000.

In July 2016, Füllkrug joined his hometown club Hannover 96 for €2.2 million.

During his three-year spell at Hannover, Füllkrug helped the club reach the DFB-Pokal Round of 16s once and be promoted to the Bundesliga once as runners-up.

In July 2019, Füllkrug returned to Werder Bremen for €7 million.

Since 2022, his high goal-scoring rate earned him a place in the Germany national team and attracted the attention of several top clubs in Europe's top five leagues.

On the 2023 summer transfer window deadline day, Füllkrug moved to Borussia Dortmund for €15 million.

During his time with the BVB, Füllkrug helped the club reach the UEFA Champions League final and scored 26 goals.

In August 2024, Füllkrug joined West Ham United for £27 million.

Since becoming a member of the Hammers, Füllkrug has made 29 appearances for the Premier League club in all competitions so far, scoring 3 goals and providing 2 assists.