The Sports Lowdown For All Your News and OpinionsLeicester City’s Andrej Kramarić has won the Golden Boot in Croatia’s First League after finishing as top goal scorer, despite having spent almost half the season at Leicester.
The Croatian is nearly 24-years-old and had an excellent season with HNK Rijeka, before completing a January move to Leicester for a club record fee of an estimated £9 million.
Kramarić made 18 appearances for Rijeka in the first half of the season, scoring an impressive tally of 21 goals which was enough to claim the title of the league’s top scorer. Although he has found it difficult to continue his form in the Premier League, making only 13 league appearances with the majority from the bench, his prolific goal scoring form is a promising look on his future.
In addition to the Prva HNL top scorer this year, he also won the league’s player of the year in 2014, an accolade that is also shared by the likes of Niko Kranjčar, Eduardo, Luka Modrić and Mario Mandžukić.
Kramarić has found it difficult to adapt to life in the Premier League but is showing great intent with his three goals in all competitions. He has only played two full games in his 13 league appearances but has demonstrated his ability to take his chances when they arrive, scoring away at Arsenal and at home to Queens Park Rangers in the league, and at Aston Villa in the FA Cup.
Leicester City fans are fully aware of what Kramarić can do with his tricky footwork, vision and clinical finishing. Now he has had time to settle into English football, he can approach Leicester’s next season in the top flight with lots of confidence.
He needs a pre-season with the Foxes to give himself a chance to impress and kick the season off with some goals in the friendly matches before the Premier League campaign begins. Leicester have already announced three pre-season friendlies in the build up to the new season with away trips to Lincoln City, Mansfield Town and Birmingham City.
Playing some lower league opposition will give Kramarić a great opportunity to hit the ground running in his first full season with the Foxes, and he will be hoping to start those games to replicate the goal scoring form that was noticed at Rijeka.
Kramarić is also beginning to establish himself at an international level, scoring three goals in six appearances for Croatia. Two of his goals have come as a substitute, and he grabbed himself a goal in the 4-0 win over Gibraltar on Sunday.
Winning the Golden Boot after spending only half a season with a team is a great achievement for the young striker, and hopefully he will be able to make a number of meaningful contributions to Leicester’s Premier League campaign in the upcoming season.
