Andrej Kramaric is the highest-scoring Croatian in Bundesliga history and tops Hoffenheim's all-time scoring charts after getting his 100th goal for the club during the 2021/22 season. bundesliga.com finds out what else there is to know about the talented frontman...

1) Top of the shots

Thanks to his postage-stamp strike in the 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 3 of the 2020/21 season, Kramaric became the first Hoffenheim player to reach six goals after three matchdays of a Bundesliga campaign. And when he netted against Arminia Bielefeld as captain on the penultimate weekend, it meant he'd scored against all 23 Bundesliga clubs he had faced. Four landed against Borussia Dortmund alone on the final day of 2019/20 - including a no-look penalty - while he succeeded where Paris Saint-Germain megastars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe failed by putting two past Manuel Neuer as Hoffenheim ended Bayern Munich's 10-month unbeaten run in all competitions on 27 September 2020. His 20 league goals in 2020/21 were a career-best return for a single league campaign. Kramaric then got his 100th goal in all competitions for Hoffenheim - and 85th in the Bundesliga - when he hit the net against Dortmund again in January 2022.

Watch: Kramaric's incredible four-goal salvo against Dortmund

2) Big cat diaries

In five seasons between 2016 and 2021, Kramaric accounted for almost exactly a quarter of Hoffenheim's Bundesliga goals (77/305), demonstrating that he is a bona-fide apex predator of a striker. Notwithstanding those tigerish qualities in front of goal, it was another big cat that piqued his interest in the animal world in his younger days. "I love animals, as my girlfriend is a vet," he told bundesliga.com. "To be honest, when I was a kid my favourite animal was a cheetah because it's the fastest animal in the world."

About the players

27

Andrej

Kramarić

TSG Hoffenheim

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3) Inspired by greats

Growing up in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, it's no surprise Kramaric looked to legendary countryman Davor Suker for inspiration - though he also had soft spots for Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. "When I was a child, Suker and Ronaldinho were the two players who were magic for me," he recalled. "When you talk about the best player in the world though, it's Messi, no doubt. It's incredible what he's done, and is still doing. He's at the age now where he can't repeat some of the things he could do when he was younger. But it's never boring to watch him."

4) A Kovac student

Those in the know no doubt say the same thing about Kramaric - former Croatia, Frankfurt and Bayern coach Niko Kovac very much included. Kovac handed Kramaric his senior international debut on 4 September 2014, and even likened the future Hoffenheim record-breaker to childhood muse Suker, Croatia's all-time top scorer. To this day, Kramaric holds one of the only men to win a Bundesliga-DFB Cup double as a player and coach in the highest regard. "He is very important to me," he said of his relationship with ex-Monaco boss Kovac. "It was under him that I won my first cap and scored my first goal for the national team. I will never forget that. He'll always be a special person for me who gives me a special energy."

Kramaric (l.) won his first seven senior international caps whilst Niko Kovac (r.) was still in charge of Croatia. - imago

5) Leicester's one that got away

Like Suker, Kramaric earned his stripes at Dinamo Zagreb. Despite scoring a club record 450 goals at youth level - and 28 in 31 competitive appearances for Rijeka in his final months in his native Croatia - he arrived in Sinsheim in January 2015 as a relative unknown. His one-year stint with Leicester City had been underwhelming at best - four goals in 20 games - but he put his head down on German soil and has no regrets about missing out on the Foxes' famous English Premier League title win. He was too busy writing his own fairytale, after all, his five goals and four assists helping dig Die Kraichgauer out of a relegation-sized hole in the second half of 2015/16. A permanent move to Germany followed and the goal glut continued. The Julian Nagelsmann disciple struck 15 times in 2016/17 as Hoffenheim secured an unprecedented top-four finish.

6) Chelsea's loss

There was a time when Kramaric could have donned another club's blue-and-white threads. The year was 2015 and the month January when he turned down Chelsea in favour of joining Leicester. Rumour has it the Zagreb native was all set to ship out to Stamford Bridge, only for the deal to fall through as the Londoners were unable to guarantee first-team football. Instead, he opted for Leicester. "I never had a chance to meet [Chelsea boss Jose] Mourinho, but it's true there was an option for me to join Chelsea." Kramaric told the Vecemji List newspaper.

Kramaric started in just eight of his 20 appearances for Leicester City during 2015. - imago

7) Delaying the inevitable

Kramaric's early days back in Zagreb are the source of yet another 'what if?' moment. The Hoffenheim sharpshooter had the chance to play under Croatia legend Robert Prosinecki at Red Star Belgrade in 2011, in a deal that would have made him the first Croat to play in the Serbian league since the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Dinamo Zagreb owner Zdravko Mamic refused to even negotiate with the Serbian giants, however, issuing a hands-off warning to all concerned: "Andrej is not going - not to Belgrade, not anywhere."

8) Hoffenheim's all-time best

Everything happens for a reason, or so the saying goes. Kramaric's move to Hoffenheim certainly paid off. With over 90 goals in the league alone by 2022, he is the Sinsheim outfit's record scorer - outstripping Sejad Salihovic's 46-strike tally by some distance. Despite the deluge of admirers, the Hoffenheim No.27 only has eyes for Die Kraichgauer. "When I joined Hoffenheim or when I was a kid, I never thought I'd be the best striker in the history of a club," Kramaric told bundesliga.com. "I'm close to being a club legend like Salihovic. I'll be happy if I score more goals, make more assists and we have success. I'm really happy here, and I wouldn't complain if I finished my career at Hoffenheim."

Watch: Kramaric's path to Hoffenheim legend status

9) World Cup silver and bronze

The talents Mamic fought tooth and nail to retain were laid bare to the watching world at Russia 2018. Croatia reached the final of the FIFA World Cup that year, ultimately coming up short to an Mbappe-inspired France. Kramaric played in every game, scoring a fine effort in the quarter-final victory over host nation Russia to help his countrymen emulate Suker and the class of 1998, who finished third. He once again led the line for the Vatreni at the 2022 World Cup, scoring two goals and playing in all seven matches as Croatia beat Morocco in the third-place play-off, taking his tally to 22 in 81 caps for his national team.

Kramaric helped Croatia beat the likes of Argentina and England en route to the 2018 FIFA World Cup final. - getty images

10) Heart of go[a]ld

An A-grade taker of chances, Kramaric also knows a thing or two about giving back. As well as his 70-plus career assists, he donated the boots he wore when he scored his first goal in the English Premier League for Leicester against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. The signed kicks fetched £1,710 on eBay, with all proceeds going to charity. Imagine how much collectors would be willing to pay for the adidas X19.3's that handed Dortmund their second-heaviest home defeat in the Bundesliga. Or the pair that outgunned the great Robert Lewandowski - "the best striker in the world" in Kramaric's estimation - early in 2020/21...

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TSG Hoffenheim

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