Usually, when the agent of a £27 million centre-forward confirms their desire for a fresh start in the January transfer window, wins such as West Ham United’s over Newcastle on Sunday afternoon are overshadowed.
But such was the outpouring of joyous relief after Nuno finally got off the mark at West Ham, combined with Niclas Fullkrug’s reputation as something of a busted flush, news of a potential winter exit has scarcely rained on a proverbial post-Newcastle parade.
Agent Thorsten Wirth accepts that Fullkrug is fighting a losing battle in the Premier League.
The Germany international missed that Newcastle clash due to yet another injury problem. For all the concerns surrounding Callum Wilson’s fitness record, the 33-year-old has been available to Nuno and predecessor Graham Potter with a great deal more regularity than his fellow veteran this season.
And it did not reflect particularly well on West Ham’s recruitment team or their squad-building that, as Fullkrug spent another weekend stuck on the sidelines, Divin Mubama scored the first hat-trick of his senior career for Mark Robins’ promotion-chasing Stoke City, following in the footsteps of Viktor Gyokeres and Liam Delap along the way.
Former West Ham United starlet Divin Mubama could emulate Viktor Gyokeres under Mark Robins
West Ham spent a reported £27 million on Fullkrug just one month after Mubama’s contract expired in the summer of 2024.
But this was not a classic case of a club releasing a youngster they felt would not quite reach the level required. Quite the opposite. The decision to leave was the player’s, not the club’s.
England Under-21 poacher Mubama rejected a new contract at the wages West Ham were offering, instead opting to put pen to paper with Manchester City.
Now, it seems doubtful that he will ever get a chance to really make his mark at City. But considering that the likes of Taylor Harwood-Bellis, James McAtee and most pertinently Liam Delap would secure transfers after impressive EFL loan spells, do not be surprised if Mubama becomes the latest to earn the Etihad outfit a cool, eight-figure profit in the summer of 2026.
Mubama marked his Championship debut at Stoke with a goal during the opening day victory over Derby County. He then embarked on a ten game barren run. But, scoring three times in the space of 67 minutes as the Potters ran riot against fellow high-flyers Bristol City, Mubama has emphatically answered the first real doubts of his senior career.
Robins, the man who has perennial underachievers Stoke sitting third in the table, famously set Viktor Gyokeres on his way at Coventry City. Mubama is the latest raw striking talent to benefit from his steady hand.
Comparisons can also be drawn with the aforementioned Delap. Now Chelsea’s number nine, Delap took the Premier League by storm with Ipswich after loan spells with Hull City, Preston North End and, funnily enough, Stoke.
“He’s a good player,” Robins said of Mubama. “How good he can get is genuinely up to him. You give him a platform.
“He’s a Manchester City player and somebody who has been bought from West Ham. We’ve been lucky enough to be trusted with him and his development.”
Mubama shines at Stoke City as Niclas Fullkrug eyes West Ham exit
Another ex-West Ham kid in Sorba Thomas was emerging as Stoke’s attacking talisman, but this was a day in which Mubama translated his prolific youth-team record onto the professional stage.
“I think, overall, [Stoke] is a really good place for him to be,” adds Robins, for whom Gyokeres scored 40 times in two seasons. “He’s going to get opportunity. He’s going to get some goals. He’s going to get some knock-backs and knocks along the way which will go to make him an experienced player.
“You’re really a product of your experiences and I hope he will get some really good ones here.
“We’re delighted we’ve got him. He’s listening and he’s studious and when he puts things into practice it’s great but he can’t do it without his teammates and everyone contributed. That’s what it takes to get a performance like that.”
Former West Ham favourite and now-Stoke City veteran Aaron Cresswell believes Mubama can become a ‘top striker’ if he continues to develop at his current rate.
In contrast, a man 12 years his senior only appears to be heading in the other direction.
“That always has to happen in coordination with the club, but I think it might make sense to make a change,” the aforementioned Wirth said on the TOMorrow Business Podcast when quizzed on Fullkrug’s future.
“Many would probably agree that Niclas is a classic penalty-area striker – strong in the air, physically powerful, able to shield the ball – basically made for the Premier League.
“[But] in retrospect, you have to say the transfer didn’t work. There’s no sugar-coating it.
“Time and again, just when you thought; ‘now he’s coming, now he’ll show England it wasn’t just a good Euro and then nothing afterwards’, another injury came. And that’s a shame. He’s had a bit of negative momentum and also some bad luck.”
