West Ham have confirmed whether Niclas Fullkrug could be recalled from his loan at Werder Bremen to help their promotion push, with Hammers News exclusively learning that a January return is not an option even if Nuno Espirito Santo changes his mind.

The situation will only intensify scrutiny of West Ham’s decision to send the Germany international out on loan, with Niclas Fullkrug rediscovering his goalscoring touch in the Bundesliga while the Hammers’ three strikers continue to struggle in front of goal.

West Ham are chasing an immediate return to the Premier League, with automatic promotion looking likely to be fiercely contested by at least four or five clubs.

Yet they have loaned out a striker who is now the top scorer in the Bundesliga while Pablo, Taty Castellanos and Joel Piroe have all struggled to score in the Championship.

And Hammers News can reveal there is no simple January solution.

West Ham confirm Fullkrug cannot be recalled from loan

Hammers News can exclusively reveal that West Ham do not have a recall or early termination clause in Fullkrug’s season-long loan agreement with Werder Bremen.

The arrangement is particularly striking given Hammers News previously revealed that Bremen did not pay a loan fee for the striker and are instead merely covering his wages.

With promotion carrying enormous financial and sporting importance for West Ham, supporters have understandably questioned why a striker who has scored seven goals in seven games at the top level in Germany was allowed to leave without a mechanism to bring him back if needed.

But the club’s position is clear, and the manager’s stance appears even more decisive.

“The manager had his reasons and just wanted Fullkrug out as part of his summer rebuild,” a leading West Ham source exclusively told Hammers News.

“There is no recall on the loan, but he wouldn’t have him back even if there was.”

The comments reinforce Hammers News’ previous exclusive, which revealed that Nuno had made his feelings about Fullkrug clear to the club’s new-look board and recruitment director Nils Koppen.

Nuno does not want Fullkrug at West Ham and that must be respected

A leading source previously exclusively told Hammers News that Nuno did not want Fullkrug at West Ham “under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES”.

That distinction matters. West Ham have backed Nuno to shape his squad according to his vision, and he has been given the authority to make difficult calls about personnel.

But the German’s performances in Bremen are making that decision increasingly difficult to defend.

Fullkrug has rediscovered his scoring touch since returning to Werder Bremen, with his recent run of goals drawing attention to West Ham’s lack of a clinical centre-forward.

Pablo has offered hard work and an important focal point, but his finishing remains a concern. Castellanos has struggled to reproduce the impact many expected after his £27m move from Lazio, while Piroe has yet to establish himself as the answer following his loan arrival from Leeds.

West Ham do not necessarily need all three forwards to hit top form at once. As a club source has previously acknowledged, they need at least one to start delivering consistently.

It should be noted, there were few tears shed among fans when Nuno decided to ship Fullkrug out again in the summer.

There were legitimate questions about the striker’s fitness and mobility during his time in England, and the decision to move him on was not without rationale. But some West Ham fans did believe the Championship would suit him better, allowing his physical presence and finishing to shine.

His current form has of course strengthened that argument, and West Ham have admitted the optics are not great.

The absence of a recall clause leaves Nuno with no opportunity to reconsider Fullkrug’s position in January, even if West Ham’s promotion ambitions depend on improving their goalscoring.

The manager must therefore find a solution among his existing options or look to the transfer market when it opens.

Fullkrug’s loan may have made sense to Nuno in the summer. His form since leaving, combined with the struggles of West Ham’s current strikers, has undoubtedly made it look like a questionable decision.

And with no route to bring the German back in January, the Hammers will have to live with the consequences of that call.