Andrej Kramaric: The Real Deal or the Next Bosko Balaban?

Leicester City are closing in on Croatian hotshot Andrej Kramaric, per Sky Sports—but is this a right move for them and for the player? Is he cut out for Premier League football, or will he end up as an expensive flop?

When Kramaric flew from Zagreb to London on Monday, he was accompanied by a few men, apparently mediators in his transfer to Chelsea or Leicester City. As per Sportske novosti’s Tomo Nicota (article in Croatian), the player’s entourage included a name that will have been familiar to football fans in England.

It was Bosko Balaban.

A former striker for Rijeka and Dinamo Zagreb (incidentally, both clubs Kramaric has played for as well), Balaban ended his career with Malaysian side Selangor in 2012. But what made him (in)famous in England was his episode at Aston Villa.

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Coming as the Croatian League’s top scorer and a member of his country’s national team, the then-prolific finisher joined the Villans back in 2001 for a fee of £5.8 million. However, he made just two starts and eight appearances as a substitute, failing to find the net. That led to him being included in just about any list of worst signings in the history of the Premier League (such as this one, compiled by the Daily Mail’s Martin Domin).

No doubt the superstitious will interpret Balaban’s involvement in the Kramaric transfer saga as a bad omen. But are there more realistic reasons for the Leicester City fans to worry their club might make a terrible mistake by signing the Croatian?

Of course there are.

While Kramaric is simply a better and more complete player than Balaban ever was, still the move presents a huge gamble both for him and the club. According to Hrvoje Tironi of Goal.com, the deal bringing the striker to the last-placed side in the Premier League table is believed to be worth £9.3 million, which is awfully steep for a club facing an uphill battle against relegation—but also for Kramaric, who is still not proven on the highest level.

Obviously, there are no guarantees in the transfer business, but what makes this case particularly sensitive is that Leicester will be expecting Kramaric to deliver goals as soon as possible. Manager Nigel Pearson is obviously tipping Kramaric as his “get out of jail card” that should solve the club’s scoring issues. His record—28 in 30 appearances this season, including seven in the Europa League—speaks for itself, but can you really expect a signing from the Croatian League to just continue stuffing the net in the Premiership as well?

The striker could move on to a different club if Leicester get relegated, but it will be very difficult for him to prove himself and adapt to Premier League football in just a few months until the end of the season. He scores loads, but he is also a fantastic dribbler who likes to get involved in link-up play, roam between the lines, drop back or pull wide. This is all good, but doubts still remain about how he will be able to implement that style in Leicester, who will, presumably, want to use him as their target man up front.

Kramaric is not very strong and not a huge threat in the air, so he can easily get outmuscled by defenders, which is why he tends to sneak around them and avoid physical contact. That has worked fantastically for him in Rijeka—but if you take a look at his goal reel, you will notice that more than often the marking on him was quite poor.

There will also be a whole lot of pressure on him—does he have the mental strength to cope with it?

What the Foxes are getting is a wonderfully gifted player and a sublime finisher, who has had some setbacks in his career and is only now, aged 23, ready to take his game to the next level. He should certainly be able to achieve more than Bosko Balaban did in his career, but expecting him to have immediate effect on the team and play an important role in saving them from relegation?

In all honesty, it sounds like Leicester City fans are being asked to take a massive leap of faith.