West Ham giving up on costly summer buy, as Lopetegui requests January signing

West Ham fear they’ve blundered by signing Niclas Fullkrug, with a report claiming Julen Lopetegui is pressuring the club to sign a new striker in January while also revealing who they could target.

Eyebrows were raised when West Ham splashed out £27m to sign Fullkrug from Borussia Dortmund over the summer. The Germany international is a fine player in his own right and operated at roughly a goal every other game during his spells with Werder Bremen and Dortmund. He’s also bagged 14 goals in just 22 matches for his country.

However, aged 31 the arrival of Fullkrug always looked a short-term option at best and a potential flop at worst. Three months into the new season, Fullkrug is yet to start a Premier League game having suffered with an Achilles issue and is still in search of his first goal for the Hammers.

His fitness problems have forced under-fire manager Lopetegui to revert to Michail Antonio up front. However, a fresh update from talkSPORT claims Lopetegui isn’t convinced by the long-serving West Ham star who aged 34, has seen better days.

As such, the report revealed West Ham are already ‘searching the market for a new No 9.’ That is reportedly at the behest of Lopetegui who is ‘putting pressure on the hierarchy to dip into their pockets in January.’

On the subject of who West Ham could sign, talkSPORT concluded by mentioning Panathinaikos frontman, Fotis Ioannidis.

The 24-year-old Greece international was reportedly considered by West Ham over the summer. Ioanaddis would ultimately remain in situ and hasn’t started the new season particularly well, notching just one goal in 11 appearances.

Fullkrug mirroring slow West Ham start

Fullkrug formed part of a monumental summer transfer window at West Ham which bred optimism for the current campaign.

Aside from the veteran striker, sizeable fees were also paid to sign Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman, Luis Guilherme and Crysencio Summerville. Impressive-looking loan deals were also secured for Jean-Clair Todibo and Carlos Soler.

However, Lopetegui has struggled to find the right balance in the season’s early going, with West Ham exiting the EFL Cup in the third round and languishing down in 15th in the Premier League table.

Fullkrug not working out is a particularly sore spot for the club given their numerous attempts to find a worthy replacement for Antonio over the years.

But with the German struggling to stay fit, Antonio has returned to the starting eleven and has scored just once in seven league outings so far.

Latest West Ham transfer news

In other news, Bologna centre-back Sam Beukema has spoken of his desire to play in the Premier League while also revealing his support of West Ham.

“I also have ambitions and hope one day to be able to play maybe in the Premier League or another big club,” he said (via Corriere dello Sport).

“I was a fan of West Ham. I once visited Upton Park with my father and I was really impressed, because the atmosphere was similar to that of Feyenoord or Go Ahead Eagles.

“But there are so many fantastic teams in England, so if another great club like Liverpool came along I would be happy to go there one day.”

Elsewhere, TBR Football have listed West Ham among the potential landing spots for Chelsea outcast Ben Chilwell in January.

Finally, Caught Offside claim West Ham are in the mix for the signature of Belgium international attacker, Charles De Ketelaere.

Why West Ham moved for Niclas Fullkrug

At 31 years old and having never scored 20 league goals in a single season in his career, the £27million West Ham paid Borussia Dortmund to sign Niclas Fullkrug this past summer appeared a hefty outlay.

There was reason for the Hammers’ faith in the German target man, though.

Fullkrug was coming fresh off starring in a role as a super-sub for the home nation at Euro 2024, scoring two goals from five appearances and regularly troubling opposition defences with his hyper-physical style when brought on.

And he was just a year removed from having joined Dortmund after the two best seasons of his career. In the 2021-22 campaign, he notched 19 league goals from 33 appearances to fire Werder Bremen to promotion from the second tier.

He then scored 16 goals from just 28 top-flight games to finish as the Bundesliga’s highest scorer in 2022-23.

Fullkrug hit the ground running at Signal Iduna Park, too, scoring 12 goals in the league and registering a career-best eight assists, utilising the improved talent around him to showcase his intelligent link-up play. He was also a key figure in Dortmund’s run to the Champions League final, scoring three goals in the competition and striking the post in a 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the final.

But things haven’t gone to plan for Fullkrug thus far at West Ham. His aerially dominant style would perhaps have been better suited to the previous manager, David Moyes, rather than current boss Julen Lopetegui.

With Just three appearances off the bench and no goals, Fullkrug’s big-money late-career Premier League switch has not gone to plan.

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