First game on Friday?
DFB striker Füllkrug wants to make his Blitz debut in Italy
Updated on January 1, 2026 – 1:42 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
It has already been decided that Niclas Füllkrug will move to AC Milan. Now he also wants to make his Blitz debut. But there is still one hurdle.
Niclas Füllkrug would ideally like to shoot his new team to victory on Friday evening – assuming, of course, that he wins the bureaucratic duel in advance. For days now, the 32-year-old striker’s move to top Italian club AC Milan has seemed to be nothing more than a formality, but the quick debut for the second-placed team in Serie A is turning into a race against time.
The Milanese must have submitted the contract papers for the offensive player by Friday afternoon, 4 p.m. – then the 24-time German international can travel to Sardinia with the rest of the team in order to secure at least temporarily the lead in the Serie A with a win against eleventh-placed Cagliari Calcio almost five hours later (8:45 p.m. in the live ticker on t-online).
The Italian football association FIGC also helped actively. The transfer window in Italy opens on January 2nd. In order for Füllkrug to be able to play immediately on the day of his official commitment, an exemption for the game must be obtained. But the strict deadline remains – otherwise the center forward will have to wait another week for his debut.
Maintaining this is also entirely in Milan’s interest, as they are only one point behind their city rivals Inter in the table. However, before the away game on the island in the Mediterranean, the club is plagued by injury concerns: former Bundesliga players Christian Pulisic and Christopher Nkunku, who were responsible for all three goals on the last matchday, are injured – a great opportunity for Füllkrug, who wants to get back into the limelight for the national team and the upcoming World Cup by moving to Italy.
He was last in the starting line-up for his current club West Ham United at the beginning of October before injuries slowed him down again. The 32-year-old now wants to put the unsuccessful chapter of the Premier League behind him – a loan is expected initially.