[Niclas Fullkrug’](https://www.claretandhugh.info/__trashed-30/)s latest interview in front of German TV ahead of his countries’ nations league semi finals contains fighting talk as far as his fitness and appetite for the fray next season.
After arriving at London Stadium without a break or a proper preseason last summer, Fullkrug was injured and missed well over half of West Ham’s fixtures with achilles and hamstring issues.
Whilst today’s interview may be focussed mostly on his International career, Fullkrug’s comments on his West Ham season are designed to lay down the gauntlet to any other striker coming to take his place – Fullkrug always said he wasn’t at West Ham to play second fiddle.
_“I’m completely relaxed” – West Ham star defiant, ready to “attack again next season_” is the heading for [_sportwitness.co.uk’s_](https://sportwitness.co.uk/im-completely-relaxed-west-ham-star-defiant-ready-to-attack-again-next-season/) translated report of Fullkrug’s Sky Sports Germany Interview:
“_West Ham United striker Niclas Füllkrug has insisted he is ready to attack next season, with a proper pre-season under his belt.”_
In the relevant section of the interview where West Ham’s number 11 discusses his domestic career, the fit-again Hammer is quite emphatic:
_“Füllkrug has regularly insisted he won’t be moving on, though, and reiterated that stance when asked about it again. “I’m completely relaxed about that,”_ he said. _S__o, I’m not thinking about anything at the moment. It’s taken me the last month to get back to that final fitness, that match fitness._
_“I was able to start three games, which is good. But after the injury, it took me a few weeks to finally… get back to match fitness, and now I feel good and am happy that I can attack again next season, obviously with a completely different foundation in the background.”_
Expect to see him used by Germany as their ‘supersub’ rather than a ‘starter’ : Most likely the role which he’d better get used to having at West Ham come August. Quite how Fullkrug sees his West Ham career panning out if the Hammers finally – as is expected – sign another younger striker to take over the number nine jersey in this window – remains to be seen.
Fullkrug as an impact player for 35 minutes could indeed be a useful tool in Potter’s toolbox. Always provided that the Hammers manager gets over himself and starts playing with a more offensive outlook. We can but hope.