Niclas Füllkrug
Rome, Italy 25th January 2026: Niclas Füllkrug of AC Milan during the Serie A 2025-26 football match between AS ROMA vs AC MILAN at the Olimpico Stadium
Earlier this week, Sport Witness covered claims that Niclas Füllkrug is keen on joining AC Milan permanently from West Ham.
The striker was believed to be enjoying life at the Rossoneri, where he has scored one Serie A goal so far.
Despite a lack of impact and after fighting through an injury, he feels at home at the club. He is also quite attached to the city of Milan, settling quickly in Italy.
Even if the striker has the best intentions, his permanent stay at the Italian giants now appears difficult.
Milan can send Füllkrug back to West Ham
Calciomercato IT assess the veteran’s situation at the Rossoneri and they expect him to return to West Ham in the summer.
This isn’t specifically because there are any concerns about the 33-year-old, his performances or his fitness. Max Allegri’s side simply want to sign younger players and the Germany international doesn’t fit that criteria for next season.
Milan can sign him permanently for €5m, but are reluctant. They would much rather use that money and the salary cost on a younger striker, with the club also likely to use Rafael Leao in a striker role from next season onwards.
Besides, Milan are very much in for Dusan Vlahovic, whose Juventus contract expires in the summer. The Serbian can effectively replace the former Borussia Dortmund player.
News could be blow for West Ham
The Hammers invested £27m in Füllkrug in 2024 and saw him struggle with injuries throughout his stay. They would have ideally expected a proven international like him to fire or fetch them some kind of sell-on.
Now, things aren’t looking great for West Ham. On top of that, the player isn’t even starting regularly for Milan. He is relying on coming off the bench, having done so in their 1-0 loss to Parma on Sunday.
It would make sense for Nuno Espirito Santos’s side to already be looking around for new destinations. They would hope that Füllkrug makes some impact in the next few weeks and potentially turns things around.