Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson says he is a “big fan” of West Ham summer signing Niclas Fullkrug.

Merson, who is a Chelsea supporter, claims that he would have liked the German international to have made the switch to Stamford Bridge instead of the London Stadium. Writing in his column for Sportskeeda, he said:

“West Ham have bought well this season. I feel Niclas Fullkrug can have an impact… I’m a big fan of his and he scored for Germany during the international break.”

“I thought Chelsea should’ve looked to sign him. It was a bit of a surprise to me when they did not make a move. The Blues don’t have a proper striker at the moment.”

Fullkrug has struggled to make an impact

The Hammers spent £27m on the forward which is a lot of money for a 31-year-old with little to no sell-on value. Based on his initial displays, fans are sceptical about whether he is worth the fee paid.

Fullkrug didn’t impress on his one and only start so far, which came against Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup last month. He hasn’t performed that well when given chances off the bench in league matches either.

The West Ham striker has been affected by injury

His underwhelming displays could well be explained by the fact that he has been suffering from Achilles tendonitis at the start of the season.

Fullkrug couldn’t play in Germany’s second Nations League fixture against Netherlands during the international break and it was initially claimed that he could be sidelined for between two and three weeks.

However, head coach Julen Lopetegui played down the seriousness of the issue during a press conference earlier this week, suggesting he could even feature against Fulham this weekend.

Find out who is in West Ham’s first-team squad for the 2024/2025 season here