NICLAS FULLKRUG has admitted that his move to West Ham has not paid off just four months after joining.
The German international signed for the Hammers in the summer transfer window in a £27.5million deal.
Fullkrug, 31, has struggled to make an impact in East London with injuries hampering his time on the pitch.
The striker has only made five appearances in the Premier League and has scored once.
The former Borussia Dortmund man has opened up on his time at the club and admitted the transfer was a “risk”.
He told the Copa TS podcast: “Absolutely awful.
“Of course, I also had very intensive discussions about such a risky step.
“Because I knew that I was taking a step deeper and taking a certain risk that I wouldn’t play internationally (in Europe) next year, maybe not the year after that either, and that I would make a big, big change.
“I was aware of that, I communicated a lot with the coach, spoke a lot with Tim Steidten, who I know from my time at Bremen, which is how we got in touch so closely.
“Of course, we had completely different goals. Things were going really badly for me too, to put it bluntly.”
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Fullkrug has missed a lot of football this season due to an injury to his Achilles tendon.
He scored on his return in West Ham‘s 3-1 defeat to Leicester City and was close to getting another against Bournemouth on Monday.
Fullkrug is now hoping to stay fit to prove himself but did insist his injury was “catastrophic”.
He added: “I was injured for three months and didn’t even reach my top performance because I’ve only been training for a week and a half.
“It seemed like I was back at a good level relatively quickly because I came in and scored the goal.
“My Achilles tendon was inflamed and it was really annoying.
“I’ve had something like that before, it lasted six weeks, now it’s taken a bit longer and this phase is catastrophic.
“You just want to play and you feel like you’re close, but then there’s another setback.”
Manager Julen Lopetegui will be counting on the forward due to the absence of Michail Antonio.
The striker has been ruled out for the foreseeable after his horror car crash left him with a broken femur.
