At the European Championships, Niclas Füllkrug was never able to go beyond the role of a joker, and he could face the same fate at Borussia Dortmund. West Ham United seems to want to take advantage of the situation.
The only one who can be sure is Serhou Guirassy. Borussia Dortmund is building up a roster of centre forwards in preparation, all of whom have a claim to play a key role in the new season – but only the new signing from VfB Stuttgart can be sure that he will get the chance to do so. 28 goals in 28 Bundesliga games last season were just too impressive.
Due to a knee injury, however, it will be a while before Guirassy makes his first appearance in the BVB jersey. During the medical check, Dortmund discovered a torn lateral ligament, and his comeback is expected to take place around mid-September. It is good for the Champions League participant that they have three other central attackers in Niclas Füllkrug, Sébastien Haller and Youssoufa Moukoko, all of whom have already performed at the highest level – and are also laying claim to a regular place in the center of the attack.
Moukoko wants to leave, but West Ham wants Füllkrug
Füllkrug would be the first candidate for this. Haller has never regained his form since his cancer, and after his Africa Cup of Nations victory at the beginning of the year he also got injured. And Moukoko recently let his frustration run free with his agent, who publicly expressed his desire to move. Both probably want to leave – but it seems to be the most concrete move that is currently being made around Füllkrug.
There are currently consistent reports that West Ham United is in intensive negotiations with BVB officials. According to “The Athletic”, Dortmund had already rejected an offer of 20 million euros, but “Sky Sports” has now reported that the clubs have since come closer together and an agreement is now likely.
If agreement with BVB is reached, West Ham will get Füllkrug
One thing is clear: If the time has come, Füllkrug can clearly imagine a transfer. In practice, things are very different from theory. According to the regulations, an interested club would first have to obtain permission from a player’s current club before they can approach him. But that actually always happens before the transfer fee negotiations.
Paragraph 5 of the DFL’s licensed player regulations states the following about concluding contracts with licensed players: “Clubs must inform the player’s club in writing before entering into discussions with a player from another club or with his representative or agent about the player’s transfer to another club. Discussions about a transfer to another club with a player from another club may not be initiated without the player’s consent earlier than six months before the expiry of the contract with the previous club.”
The reality, however, is quite different. If West Ham makes an offer for Füllkrug, the Premier League club knows that the player also wants to come to England, and perhaps a contract has already been negotiated. In almost all cases, agreement between the clubs is the last step before a player undergoes a medical check at his new club.
Sahin would like to keep Füllkrug
And so it seems that Füllkrug could soon undergo that medical check in London. He has done a lot to gain the trust of a regular player at his current place of work. New coach Nuri Sahin also said that Füllkrug knows “how much I value him” and that his “overall package is simply top-notch”. “We want to have the best possible team and Niclas Füllkrug and Serhou Guirassy play a central role in my plans,” Sahin continued.
But a coach always wants to have as many quality players as possible, while clubs and players naturally have their own interests. BVB has already announced that it wants to sell at least one of its strikers, and compared to Haller and Moukoko, Füllkrug has the best prospects of getting the highest possible transfer fee.
Parallels between BVB and DFB team
In addition, the national player, who had to give way to Kai Havertz in the centre despite his goals (including scoring the goal of the month against Scotland in June) at the European Championships for the DFB team, is looking for a place where he can play as a striker from the start on a permanent basis. Dortmund no longer seems to be that, but West Ham is.
Only a year ago, Füllkrug moved from Werder Bremen to Dortmund, he was directly involved in a total of 26 goals, including extremely important goals in the Champions League that took his club to the final. But BVB’s future in attack belongs to Guirassy and the resulting supporting role for Füllkrug does not seem satisfactory to anyone.
