A very long road to reach the highest levels (including a pay cut): he never had the cover, but in Bremen and Dortmund he left his mark. Until his arrival at West Ham, where he failed to establish himself: now he is in Milan’s sights for January
Facts, not words. Individual successes represented by the sweat dripping from his forehead, by the long, very long road traveled to reach the highest levels. A great desire to emerge, not to appear. Niclas Füllkrug has lived his entire career going against the grain. Milan are thinking about the German center forward for the January transfer window, an increasingly concrete hypothesis as the days and hours pass. A loan operation, to see the effect it has. He is a protagonist who has never had the cover: he found himself in the spotlight for the first time during the 2022 World Cup, when, called up by the skin of his teeth (he had made his debut for the national team at the age of 29, a week after the start of the tournament), he kept Germany’s hopes alive by scoring the equalizer against Spain, before repeating himself on the third day of the group stage against Costa Rica (goal and assist). He was one of the few of the German expedition (eliminated in the first round) to save himself in the eyes of critics, he did not become a national hero just for the team’s results. But he had done his thing. Probably even more. Yet just a few weeks earlier he had had to accept a reduction in his salary to obtain the renewal. Typical ups and downs of his career. Made of sacrifice rather than recognition. But also of great goals, reached on tiptoe.