Maybe the West Ham striker curse isn’t real after all as a top board source shares the results of Niclas Fullkrug’s medical test.
West Ham were left cursing their rotten luck with striker signings once again when news emerged that Niclas Fullkrug had withdrawn from the Germany squad this week.
Fullkrug returned to West Ham early after what was described by Sky Sports Germany as ‘Achilles tendon and calf issues’.
It came as a bitter blow for Julen Lopetegui, who is now reliant on ageing and injury-prone Michail Antonio and flop Danny Ings for the foreseeable future.
Complicating matters further, Antonio has just played for Jamaica in the early hours of this morning.
The Hammers have a big and winnable game at Fulham in just three days.
But Antonio is not usually played in matches that are close together due to his history of hamstring injuries.
The top spokesman at the club told Hammers News yesterday that it was feared Fullkrug will be out for up to three weeks.
Fullkrug returned to West Ham for checks after injury
West Ham’s top brass described it as ‘not ideal’ and club sources have also remarked ‘this is why we hate the international breaks’.
A three-week timescale was the best case scenario outlook if the initial prognosis proved correct.
That would mean Fullkrug being out of action for the Hammers until after the NEXT international break in October.
Had that been the case he would have missed games against London rivals Fulham and Chelsea, the Carabao Cup clash at Liverpool, another London derby at Brentford and a game against Ipswich.
Then, just as he might be ready to return, there is another international break after Ipswich on October 5th.
But now there’s an almighty boost for West Ham as a board source shares the Fullkrug test result.
Almighty boost as board source shares Fullkrug test result
Sean Whetstone, a confidant of Hammers majority owner David Sullivan, has big news.
Yesterday Whetstone reported there were fears Fullkrug had Tendonitis and faced weeks if not months out.
After returning to Rush Green for medical checks, though, there is now a much better outlook.
So much so Fullkrug may only be out for one game.
“Hammer Niclas Fullkrug’s injury is not as serious as originally thought,” Whetstone said.
“He will miss this weekend’s game against Fulham but should be fit for the following game against Chelsea.
“It had been thought he was suffering from Tendonitis but medical checks revealed it was a bruise to his ankle after a knock and he has been told to rest for three days.”
Great news but Lopetegui has big decision to make for Fulham
This is fantastic news for West Ham.
But Lopetegui must still decide what to do for the clash with Fulham.
If the Hammers have serious designs of qualifying for Europe then it’s a match they should be looking to win.
In a normal situation Antonio would not be risked given the short space between his recent matches.
So it could well be that the Spaniard turns to Bowen as striker with Mohammed Kudus and Crysencio Summerville either side.
It is difficult to see Ings getting a start given he is effectively fourth choice forward behind Bowen.
But Lopetegui has said he will give everyone in the squad their chance to impress.
So could this be Ings’ time to finally shine?
West Ham fans don’t have too much longer to wait to find out.
