future question? Füllkrug’s claim on Werder

Thinking about his future: Niclas Füllkrug.

IMAGO/Jan Huebner

In Bremen, Niclas Füllkrug still has a contract that lasts well beyond the season, after all he only extended it until 2025 last September. Still, the forward’s future isn’t entirely clear. “If that’s also economically interesting for us, we have to sit down together. But that’s not yet foreseeable,” said Bremen’s head of professional football Clemens Fritz recently.

One thing is clear: the financially strapped Hanseatic League need a transfer surplus, and selling the top striker would certainly help. Füllkrug himself was unable to predict how things would continue after the 0-1 draw at Union Berlin, but he pointed out that Bremen were faced with an important decision. “You have to decide where you want to go. Do you want to take the next step or do you want to improve your financial situation? Werder have to position themselves there.”

At the end of the season, he didn’t think about his personal future. “I didn’t give it much thought. There will be talks in the next few weeks that will also point the way a bit,” said Füllkrug, emphasizing: “Werder has a say in the matter.” He personally has no tendency, he can only have that when all options are available.

Lower salary from July

From July 1, Füllkrug will earn less at SVW – regardless of his strong performance, because that’s what his contract says. This is unusual, but he made the decision himself. “It was like that at the time because I wanted a certain amount of rest because I didn’t want to go into my last year of contract. I made that decision and then accepted it.”

However, Füllkrug, for whom money alone is not absolutely decisive, also knows that the situation is different now. The sporting perspective is also important to him, because: “If you’re also a German national player, then you want to position yourself better in the league.” This season you have been “at the crossroads towards a single-digit place in the table” several times.

Füllkrug sees a need for action

In the end it didn’t turn out that way for Werder, rather the class was only secured on the penultimate matchday with a 1-1 draw against Cologne. Therefore, Füllkrug sees “a need for action within the team at SVW. It will be crucial to make good decisions and improve them in order to be able to attack another category in the table next season.”

In the end, however, he emphasized that he would remain relaxed regardless of how everything developed, because: “One mustn’t forget either. I also feel very comfortable at Werder Bremen.”