£9m Leicester City transfer decision made that could have gone the other way

The 32-year-old has also had an impressive international career with Croatia, reaching two World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and 2022

Back in January 2015, Leicester City secured the signing of Croatian hot-shot Andrej Kramaric for a fee of £9m.

The Foxes escaped Premier League relegation at the end of the 2014/15 campaign by winning seven of their last nine matches, including a heavy 5-1 victory over QPR who have not returned to the top-flight since.

 

Kramaric was brought in by then manager Nigel Pearson in an effort to guide the club to Premier League safety but the Croatia international scored just two goals as the Foxes were still able to finish 14th in the table, and six points clear of the relegation zone.

Jamie Vardy’s 2014/15 top flight tally of five goals and eight assists was enough to steer Pearson’s Foxes away from danger but Kramaric would remain hopeful that he could prove his worth in his first full season at Leicester.

After all, Pearson brought him through the doors at the King Power Stadium following the Croatian’s impressive goalscoring record at Rijeka in which the ace bagged 56 goals in 65 games.

However neither Kramaric nor the rest of the world could have predicted what Leicester achieved during the 2015/16 season.

Against all the odds, the Foxes lifted the Premier League table after amassing 81 points from their 38 games with second placed Arsenal finishing on just 71 points.

Manager Claudio Ranieri may have been the mastermind behind the Foxes unlikely top flight triumph but there was no room for Kramaric in this fairy tale narrative.

After making just two Premier League appearances, the Croatian was sent on loan to Bundesliga side Hoffenheim where he scored five goals in 15 games in an initial loan spell.

As with the previous season, Kramaric was not able to showcase his goalscoring talents in Leicester colours due to the presence of Jamie Vardy who bagged 24 league goals in an incredible season, in which the England man broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s long-standing record by scoring in 11 consecutive Premier League games.