BERLIN: Leicester City's Croatia striker Andrej Kramaric has joined Bundesliga strugglers Hoffenheim on loan until the end of the season in a bid to play more matches ahead of Euro 2016.
The 24-year-old, who cost Leicester a club record £9.7m (12.61m euros, $13.74m)last January, has made just five appearances for the Premier League high-flyers this season.
He regularly found himself on the Foxes' bench behind forwards Jamie Vardy and Japan's Shinji Okazaki.
Kramaric heads to Germany in the hope of getting more matches under his belt ahead of the European championships in June with Croatia drawn in Group D alongside defending champions Spain, Turkey and the Czech Republic.
"Andrej has the European Championships to think about this summer, so it's important for him that he has the opportunity to play," explained Leicester City's manager Claudio Ranieri.
"He is a fantastic player and a great professional but, in this moment, we have other strikers that are playing well.
"I spoke with him to understand what he wants to do and a loan is a solution that works for everybody.
"We will watch him closely at Hoffenheim."
Hoffenheim hope Kramaric can help them climb off the bottom of the table as they prepare to host Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, then German league leaders Bayern Munich away on January 31.
"We are pleased that this transfer has happened. Andrej is an extremely prolific striker who will bring some new impetus to our attacking game," said Alexander Rosen, Hoffenheim's director of sport.
Kramaric says he wants to help Hoffenheim climb out of the relegation places.
"I am very excited about Hoffenheim and the Bundesliga. I want to do my bit to help the club avoid relegation," said the Croatia international, who has scored three goals in nine appearances for his country.
Comments
Comments are closed.