Following the confirmation of his arrival at West Ham United, we take a photographic journey through Niclas Füllkrug’s glittering career in football so far.
Born in Hanover, the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony, the 31-year-old spent the majority of his youth playing for local side TuS Ricklingen, before being snapped up by Werder Bremen in his early teens in 2006.
After working his way through the ranks, and featuring for Bremen’s reserve side in the third and four tiers, Füllkrug was handed his senior debut for the first team in January 2012, in a 1-1 Bundesliga draw at home to Bayer Leverkusen.
A first goal, at home to Augsburg, followed two months later, before the prolific forward embarked on a loan move to 2. Bundesliga outfit Greuther Fürth in August 2013, for whom he netted six times in 24 appearances.
A permanent move to 1. FC Nürnberg in the summer of 2014 yielded 18 goals in 59 games, and a run to the second-tier Play-Offs in 2015/16, ahead of a switch to hometown club Hannover 96, who had just been relegated from the top flight.
Five league goals and three assists in 27 games helped power Die Roten to promotion as runners-up at the first time of asking, and after two more seasons, and 19 more strikes in all competitions, Füllkrug re-joined Bremen in 2019, at the age of 26.
Despite Die Werderaner suffering relegation in 2020/21, their No11 played an integral role in gaining promotion at the end of 2021/22 by firing in 19 league goals in 33 games, while he kickstarted the following term with an emphatic ten strikes in 13 Bundesliga outings.
The 2022/23 cammpaign was hugely significant for Füllkrug away from the domestic scene, too, with Germany national coach Hansi Flick unable to ignore his fine form, and subsequently calling him up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar.
A goal on his first appearance against Oman ahead of the tournament preceded two strikes in three games at the finals, against Spain and Costa Rica.
Back at club level, Füllkrug finished the campaign as the Bundesliga’s joint top-scorer, with 16 goals, earning him a spot in the division’s Team of the Season and later a move to European giants Borussia Dortmund, ahead of 2023/24.
After netting a first goal for the eight-time German champions against Hoffenheim in September, he finished last term with a total of 15 goals in 43 appearances, and a UEFA Champions League runners-up medal.
Earlier this summer, Füllkrug scored twice in five outings at UEFA Euro 2024, held in his home country, notching against Scotland and Switzerland in the group stage before defeat to eventual winners Spain in the quarter-finals.
Check out the images from our newest recruit’s impressive life on the pitch in the gallery above.
