Andrej Kramaric scout report: Chelsea appear to back out as Leicester look to snap up Croatian striker... and heres all you need to know Despite having a fine strike force with the likes of Diego Costa, Loic Remy and Didier Drogba, Chelsea had been keen on bolstering their front line with striker Andrej Kramaric. But Leicester City at the bottom of the Barclays Premier League are desperate to find a striker to fire them to safety. Typical Chelsea, eh? Quick out of the blocks when the market opens, signing reinforcements up front. Its true, they were close to signing Croatia international striker Andrej Kramaric for a fee thought to be around £8million. The deal is not to go ahead this week after being complicated by Premier League Rule V.7.1, which would prevent him from being loaned to Leicester immediately as he was not intended to go into Jose Mourinhos squad this season. The move stalled as the club wanted him to move immediately out on loan as soon as he completes the transfer to Stamford Bridge but Chelsea failed to guarantee he would return to west London at the end of the season, too. To Leicester? Premier Leagues bottom side has joined the chase Yes they are in talks, and Juventus have expressed an interest along with various big clubs around Europe. Apparently, Leicester offered a bigger fee than Chelsea but once Chelsea were interested Kramaric made up his mind that he wanted to move there and agreed personal terms. There seemed to be a compromise plan hatched to let him join Leicester on loan from Chelsea for the rest of the season but this is no longer possible. He did not want to spend his time on loan elsewhere next season, either. As the Chelsea move has stalled, Leicester are now exploring the possibility of offering extra bonus payments to entice Kramaric to them despite their precarious position but wouldnt loan him out. Croatia has been in the European Union since July 2013 but are still subject to work permit regulations. This should not stop an international footballer, who would be classed as highly skilled by the Home Office, but there will be hoops to jump through. If he does sign for Chelsea, Kramaric could move on loan abroad, possibly to Vitesse Arnhem, in Holland. Dont they have a special connection to Chelsea? They do have a very close relationship and like to reward each other with favours. Three Chelsea players are already on loan there: Wallace, Josh McEachran and Bertrand Traore, who has impressed as a centre-forward this season but has recently joined up with Burkina Faso ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations. Vitesse would love to acquire Kramaric to help them cope without Traore. Feyenoord were also interested after he scored three against them in the Europa League. Vitesse seemed to be the favourites a few days ago but CEO Joost de Wit said this weekend that they were no longer sure of signing him, either. Lille are the latest name linked to Kramaric. It appears to be a transfer cluttered and confused by lots of agents. Why all the fuss? The goals: he has 28 in 31 games in all competitions this season for his club HNK Rijeka. He represented Croatia at all youth levels (he won 53 caps through the age levels) and has four senior caps (two goals) since his debut in August. But there are doubts about his quality at the highest level. Kramaric is 23, so no longer a kid fresh from his Academy. He emerged through the ranks to great acclaim at Dinamo Zagreb, but was unable to establish himself at Croatias biggest club. He enjoyed a prolific spell on loan at Lokomotiva but when he returned to Dinamo again failed to break into the team and left under a cloud to join Rijeka in 2013. Immediately, he hit goal form again. He scored 27 last year, winning the Croatian Cup and is getting better. He helped Rijeka beat his former club Dinamo Zagreb to win the Croatian Super Cup and scored five in one game against Lokomotiva. So he could be the next Davor Suker? Or the next Bosko Balaban? Doubts remain about his ability to play up top. Does he have the mental strength to perform at a big club, under pressure? Lots of clubs have watched him. He is a right-footed centre-forward but not a target man. He is technically adept, finds space in the penalty box and threatens goal. He is mobile but not keen to run behind defences into the channels. Instead, he prefers to move towards the ball, link-up play and then time his runs into the box. Croatia boss Niko Kovac compared him to former Arsenal and West Ham striker Davor Suker, but some English clubs who have watched Kramaric closely and concluded he might be better suited to the more precise football played in Italy, Spain or Holland. WHAT THE RULES SAY... Chelsea had planned to loan Kramaric to Leicester, heres why they cant... Premier League Rule V.7.1 A Temporary Transfer to a Club may not take place in the Transfer Window in which the Transferor Club acquired the Players registration. This PL rule wrecked the plan for Chelsea to sign Kramaric from Rijeka then loan him to Leicester and complicated the move. But the rule only covers loan deals between PL clubs. It would not have stopped Chelsea signing Kramaric and then loaning him abroad, as they did with Kurt Zouma last January. Chelsea now seem to have backed out of the deal altogether, leaving Leicester to pick up negotiations to sign him permanently.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 12:10:26 +0000
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