GdS: Similar path, same goal – Nkunku and Füllkrug hoping to rediscover Bundesliga form

Christopher Nkunku and Niclas Füllkrug share a similar path: they were both at their best in the Bundesliga, and are looking to get back to those levels with AC Milan.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, Füllkrug arrived from West Ham on loan with an option to buy, meaning everything depends on him, and he’d very much like to stay where he’ll spend the first half of 2026.

Nkunku, on the other hand, was acquired outright in the summer and was also the Rossoneri’s most expensive investment of the 2025 transfer window. He isn’t keen on parting ways with Milan either, where he’s finally starting to find his feet, but he hasn’t yet fully convinced the management.

Füllkrug and Nkunku also have two other factors in common: in these first four and a half months of the season, they’ve only scored three goals between them. However, the Frenchman has all three, with the German stuck in zero.

This is not great for someone who’s a striker by trade compared to someone who wasn’t born a centre-forward but became one. Above all, it’s shocking to see such a paltry tally when you consider their recent past.

Bundesliga bliss

One only needs to return to Germany to understand why the two were so appealing. The 2022-23 Bundesliga top scorers: Füllkrug and Nkunku were tied for first with 16 goals. The former with Werder Bremen (finished 13th) and the latter with RB Leipzig (3rd and qualified for the Champions League).

Niclas was the first Werder Bremen player to top the top scorers’ charts since Miroslav Klose (curiously, another of Igli Tare’s signings from Lazio) in 2005-06. Thanks to that, he earned his first call-ups to the national team, even managing to participate in the World Cup.

Just a few weeks before the start of that season, he had to accept a salary reduction to secure a contract extension. The title of joint top scorer is actually partly a regret: Füllkrug finished that season without scoring in the last seven games, five of which he missed due to a calf problem.

Nkunku matched him on the very last matchday, scoring a brace against Schalke. The second goal came in the final second of injury time. Like Füllkrug, however, the Frenchman also struggled with physical problems throughout the season: a torn collateral ligament, then a torn hamstring.