Legend Rudi Völler’s more than 40-year-old record equalled! Niclas Füllkrug makes it ever harder for Jürgen Klopp
Niclas Füllkrug equalled the Werder Bremen Bundesliga record held by legendary striker and DFB sporting director Rudi Völler on Saturday afternoon.
The striker put Bremen ahead in the 57th minute of the Bundesliga match against TSG Hoffenheim, driving forward before finishing with even greater determination. He is the first Werder player since Völler in the 1982/83 season, and only the second ever, to score at least once in seven consecutive Bundesliga matches.
As Füllkrug also scored twice in the midweek DFB Cup match away to Borussia Dortmund (2-3), he is now the first Werder player since the Bundesliga began in the 1963/64 season to score in eight consecutive competitive matches. Not even World Cup winner Völler, who played up front for Bremen from 1982 to 1987, managed that.
Füllkrug, who returned to Werder Bremen on loan from West Ham United in mid-August, continued his outstanding start to the season against Hoffenheim. His nine goals put the 33-year-old top of the Bundesliga scoring charts, and each one strengthens his case for a return to the Germany national team.
Will Klopp call up Füllkrug to the Germany squad on Thursday?
After last joining the Germany squad in September 2025 and missing last summer's World Cup, among other things, Füllkrug remains cautious about a return. "We have ushered in a new era in Germany and want to be young and dynamic. I understand that if that is the case. And if not, we can still react to it," Füllkrug said last weekend on Aktuellen Sportstudio on ZDF. The striker stressed that he would always be available if new Germany coach Jürgen Klopp needed him.
For the Nations League matches in late September and early October, Klopp left Füllkrug out of his first squad. Speaking on DAZN around the time of Bayern Munich's recent Champions League match against Arsenal (2-2), Klopp indicated, with reference to the Bremen player, that his age made a call-up less likely: "Niclas Füllkrug is scoring goal after goal in the Bundesliga, but he is 33. That's not my fault."
Klopp will announce his squad for the upcoming November internationals next Thursday, but he has not ruled out a recall: "Lionel Messi has just played in a World Cup at, what was he, 39 or 40. So it can be done. But first of all, I'm glad Niclas is back and playing the way he is, because he had physical problems, whatever they were. And right now he looks fresher than ever. So it's all good."
Whether Klopp will continue to leave out the 24-cap Germany international (14 goals) despite his extraordinary scoring run will become clear in a few days.
