The reason why Niclas Fullkrug may be denied a return to the German national team under Jurgen Klopp is also a very good argument why West Ham United spending £27 million on him was always a flawed idea in the first place.

Yes, he arrived in the summer of 2024 with a prolific strike rate in the Bundesliga. Yes, Niclas Fullkrug won the Golden Boot only a year previously, and fired Borussia Dortmund into the Champions League final at Paris Saint-Germain’s expense shortly before Tim Steidten brought him to the London Stadium.

Niclas Fullkrug’s post-West Ham United revival gets Jurgen Klopp talking

You cannot level the same accusations at Werder Bremen, though. Fullkrug is currently top of the Bundesliga scoring charts; six from six and goals in five successive matches. Werder boss Daniel Thioune has constructed his entire tactical jigsaw with Fullkrug as the centrepiece, and he is picking up where he left off two years previously.

Yet, Jurgen Klopp was hardly overly-exuberant about a potential international re-call for a soon-to-be 34-year-old Fullkrug.

Fullkrug, the legendary Liverpool boss said, is probably too old. If only Steidten, West Ham’s former technical director, had come to the same conclusion. After all, the club would waste £27 million on an already 31-year-old centre-forward without even a shred of re-sale value.

“Niclas Füllkrug is scoring goal after goal in the Bundesliga, but he’s 33. That’s not my fault,” Klopp protested, via NTV.

Julian Nagelsmann’s successor did not entirely rule out a return to the Germany set-up in the short-term – ‘it can certainly work’ – but his top priority is constructing a younger, hungrier squad with future tournaments in mind.

Klopp picked two separate squads of 44 players during the recent Nations League encounters. Only four of his outfield picks – Antonio Rudiger, Serge Gnabry, Pascal Gross and Leon Goretzka – were over 30.

Werder Bremen want to keep Fullkrug but only if they can afford him

In the meantime, The Athletic reports that West Ham hoped to recoup £8 million when hawking Fullkrug around over the summer. As it turned out, no one wanted to pay £8 million for a 33-year-old striker who had scored four league goals in two years.

If he is to stay at Werder Bremen permanently, one suspects the final year of his Hammers contract will have to be terminated. A £27 million investment to a free-agent in three years? Steidten should probably have done what Klopp did, and took a closer look at his birth certificate.

“Ultimately, there are three parties involved; West Ham, Niclas and Werder Bremen. And that is, of course, what makes it challenging. With two parties, things are sometimes a little easier,” Werder Bremen’s sporting director Clemens Fritz told Sky Deutschland after the veteran frontman netted twice in a 2-2 draw with Paderborn.

“Niclas feels comfortable in Bremen. He does us an enormous amount of good. Of course, I would be delighted if he stayed with us beyond this season, and I’m sure the whole of Bremen would feel the same. At the moment, however, it’s still too early.”