Leicester boss Nigel Pearson made a statement of intent earlier this month by acquiring the highly rated Andrej Kramaric from Croatian club HNK Rijeka. The 23-year-old becomes the Foxes club record signing for a fee believed to be around £9.7m and, according to his new manager, has been on Leicester’s radar for some time:
“We’ve watched Andrej for a long time so we knew we were signing a player that could add great quality to English football and I’m delighted that the relevant authorities have seen the situation the same way. He’s an extremely talented young footballer and I’m delighted we’ve been able to finalise his signing. He is potentially a very important addition for us.”
The transfer is regarded as something of a coup for the King Power outfit, with a number of Europe’s leading sides – including Chelsea and Juventus – previously interested in the striker’s services. Indeed, Kramaric’s decision to sign for Leicester has already caused something of a domestic – the player has gone against his father’s wishes to choose the Foxes over Jose Mourinho’s side, with his agent showing little sign for diplomacy by explaining:
“If he chooses Chelsea, Kramaric won’t ever set foot on the Stamford Bridge pitch. All that ‘glitter’ lasts two or three days. It’s true that Leicester doesn’t sound that attractive, but the 19 games for such a player is a real opportunity to showcase his talent. Prove yourself – you either got it or you don’t.”
The History
Snapped up by hometown team Dinamo Zagreb at the age of six, Kramaric became the club’s record goalscorer at youth level (netting over 450 times) before making his debut for the senior side as a 17-year-old in 2009. The frontman was unable to replicate his heroics at a higher level, however, and after failing to nail down a regular role, he managed just 11 goals and five assists in 52 appearances across all competitions for Dinamo.
A loan spell at Lokomotiv Zagreb saw him rack up 20 goals and 10 assists in 45 outings over a season and a half before returning to his parent club for the start of the 2013/14 campaign. Kramaric immediately fell down the pecking order again, though, and after complaining to the press over a lack of pitch time, he was transfer listed and subsequently snapped up by HNK prior to the closure of the transfer window. The 23-year-old made an instant impact at his new club, racking up 27 goals and four assists in 34 outings and helping HNK clinch the Croatian Cup.
Kramaric continued his clinical form into the current campaign. Steering HNK to the Croatian Super Cup at former club Dinamo’s expense, he racked up 28 goals and four assists in 30 matches, with an impressive six goals in eight appearances in the Europa League (including a hat-trick against Feyenoord) highlighting his ability to produce at a higher level. The Foxes new boy has turned out on 53 occasions at youth level for his country, scoring 22 times, and has netted twice in four outings for the Croatia senior side.
The Prospects
Standing five foot eleven, Kramaric is more of a second striker rather than a physical, target man type. Compared to Croatian legend Davor Suker by national manager Niko Kovac, the Leicester new boy is a technically capable player who tends to drop deep or shift into the channels to find space and time his runs into the opposition box.
The player himself reckons his style is “something between Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski” and it was noticeable that, in his first start for the club, he was paired with Leonardo Ulloa up top in Saturday’s cup win at Spurs. Pearson clearly sees the Argentine as the ideal foil for his new striker – with Ulloa’s strength and aerial ability spearheading the Foxes attack, Kramaric will be afforded the chance to play off the South American and look for space between the lines.
Pearson has flirted with a number of tactical set-ups this term but a 4-4-1-1 now looks the likeliest scenario in order to accommodate the new boy. This looks ominous for players such as David Nugent and Jamie Vardy, with Jeffrey Schlupp and Riyad Mahrez – once he’s back from the Africa Cup of Nations – set to be tasked with supplying the creativity from out wide.
Given that Ulloa remains the club’s top scorer, despite scoring in the league just twice since Gameweek 5, it’s clear the Foxes need more firepower to bolster their chances of survival. Kramaric – at just 5.5 in the Fantasy Premier League game – will be desperate to continue his progress as a goal-getter of some repute, but with a horrendous run of fixtures to follow (mun, CPL, ars, eve, CHE, mcy), few will be willing to gamble until the schedule smiles far more kindly on Pearson’s side from Gameweek 29 onwards.
