Julen Lopetegui has revealed that Niclas Füllkrug is in contention to start for West Ham against Liverpool tomorrow.
The Hammers’ head coach spoke to the press ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie and was understandably tight-lipped about most topics. The Spaniard is under pressure to deliver at West Ham and spent his pre-match press conference using many words to say very little.
While Lopetegui did not wish to revisit the analysis of the Irons’ 3-0 loss to Chelsea, he was willing to confirm that his big German striker was fit and participating in training.
Whether he’ll start Füllkrug remains unknown, but J-Lo mentioned that new signings take time to adapt to the Premier League, which has become the norm these days. It’s always difficult to read between the lines when managers are cautious in front of the media, but I interpreted his guarded comments to refer to Jean-Clair Todibo rather than Füllkrug.
I’m certain we’ll see the former Dortmund striker in some capacity at Anfield, though. West Ham have invested serious money in the 31-year-old, and likely only Max Kilman at £40M carries more expectation. Füllkrug and the club need to make a success of his transfer from the Bundesliga, and I suspect he’ll feature tomorrow and against Brentford at the weekend.