LEICESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 29: Claudio Ranieri with (L-R) Andrej Kramaric, Leo Ulloa and Gokhan Inler during Leicester City's visit to Peter Pizza, Leicester, after manager Claudio Ranieri kept his promise of pizza for his squad after keeping their first clean sheet of the season on October 29, 2015 in Leicester, United Kingdom. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
He only scored ever scored twice for Leicester; six years later, he became a history-making goal-scoring machine
The Leicester City side that won the Premier League was the stuff of dreams.
Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester side in the 15/16 season was simply electric. The ‘Tinker Man’ had the likes of N’Golo Kante, Riyadh Mahrez and a prime Jamie Vardy. Class.
Vardy in particular was a major catalyst. His goals were critical, and he broke records along the way. But whilst Vardy was banging them in, one Leicester striker couldn’t hit a barn door, and subsequently, was shipped off.
Now, his career couldn’t look much more different. He’s a history-maker in one of the best leagues in the world.
Andre Kramaric didn’t succeed at Leicester City
On the 8th of January 2015, Leicester City announced that they had agreed a deal to sign highly-rated Croatian forward Andrej Kramaric from Rijeka.
After some issues with a work permit, eight days later, the Foxes announced Kramaric had officially joined the club, for an at-the-time, club record fee of £9 million.
He made his debut the day after signing, replacing Vardy for the last 25 minutes of a 0–1 home defeat against Stoke City.
Chances were few and far between for Kramaric with Vardy in the Foxes squad, but when he did feature, he simply couldn’t score.
It took him a month to find the net, bagging against Arsenal in a 2-1 defeat. He only ever scored once more – against QPR.
Because of his lack of goal threat, Kramaric couldn’t force his way into the starting XI. A feat he only did twice in a year. This also meant he didn’t receive a Premier League winners medal in the 15/16 season., with the Foxes forward ineligible with too few appearances.
A year on, this meant he was loaned out for the remainder of the season to Hoffenheim in January. A loan that was made permanent at the end of the campaign.
Best decision he ever made, with hindsight in favour.
Andre Kramaric is now Hoffenheim’s top scorer ever, and counting
Kramaric has more than excelled since his move to the Bundesliga.
According to the Bundesliga website, Kramaric has played 273 matches, and of these, has won 103. During this time, stuck 122 balls in the back of the net.
Alongside this, on the 29th of March 2019, he became the club’s all-time top goalscorer. Then, on the 24th of January 2021, he became Bundesliga’s all-time top Croatian goalscorer.
