Forget Antony & Mudryk; Niclas Fullkrug is the Premier League’s worst ever signing

Even by West Ham‘s usual standards in the transfer market, Niclas Fullkrug has been something else.

Thought to be the brainchild of Technical Director Tim Steidten, Fullkrug was signed for £27million from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2024. He was already 31 and the deal always whiffed stronger than Blue Cheese.

The Hammers have always had the opposite of the Midas Touch when it comes to signing strikers, but handing Fullkrug a four-year deal caused a pandemic of raised eyebrows across Premier League boardrooms.

The Big F*ckin’ German, as he was briefly christened by supporters, has scored just three goals in 28 games for the club and is now being offloaded to Werder Bremen.

His only memorable contribution was a scathing interview after a 1-1 draw with Southampton in April 2025, calling his team-mates ‘sh*t’ and suffering the indignity of a public slapdown from Graham Potter.

Meanwhile, Steidten left his job in January last year. He is lucky to avoid a custodial sentence for the Fullkrug deal.

While it says much about modern football economics that a failed West Ham striker is having his wages subsidised to play for a Bundesliga club, other verdicts are even more damning.

In fact, forget Antony, Mykhailo Mudryk and Nicolas Pepe; Fullkrug is arguably the worst transfer in Premier League history.

While the Hammers are cash-rich in global terms, even after relegation, they cannot afford to write off failed signings in the same manner as the Premier League elite.

Manchester United received £21.6million for Antony and have bought several expensive forwards to replace him. Chelsea have signed a whole squad of wingers to supplant Mudryk.

While Arsenal simply gave Pepe a free transfer, paying off the final year of his contract. These options aren’t realistically available to West Ham.

So Fullkrug’s loan deal to Bremen involves no obligatory buy clause and is only for the season.

He’ll return to East London next summer, tail firmly between legs, with little resale value and a fair possibility that West Ham are still a Championship club.

The Germany international – although his humbling Premier League spell has surely ended that status – will probably find the Bundesliga’s home comforts more suited to his wounded soul.

West Ham quickly need to find a replacement in the summer window, with January signing Pablo yet to score and Taty Castellanos looking disinterested at Burnley last weekend.

Joel Piroe’s arrival from Leeds is imminent, but the Hammers missed out on Troy Parrott to Real Betis and have been linked with 87-year-old Jamie Vardy. Lessons are stubbornly not being learnt from previous recruitment failures.

In an era where scouting is sophisticated and youngsters are prioritised, the punt on Fullkrug was something from a bygone era where major tournaments acted as shopping channels.

This was the most obvious flop in years and West Ham will feel the effects long after the German’s permanent departure.

Fullkrug was the poster boy for a club still operating in the long 2000s. With all the context, he is the worst signing in Premier League history.