The big news of the upcoming winter transfer window is Rijeka’s Andrej Kramarić and whether he will land at Chelsea. News coming out of Croatia on Tuesday says that Kramarić will be in London the Monday following New Year’s for a physical at Stamford Bridge. It would be a Rijeka transfer record somewhere in the range of 5-7 million Euros.
If the deal goes through, there’s rumors flying around on what Chelsea would do with Kramarić. Some say he would be loaned back to Rijeka for the rest of the season. Others have Chelsea loaning out the Croatian striker to Leicester City until summer. But with Diego Costa in a bit of a funk and Didier Drogba on the last legs of his career, who knows if the Special One will vow to keep him on the club for Chelsea’s Champions League run.
French club Lille was also vowing for the services of Kramarić but joined the discussions too late. If Kramarić joins Chelsea in January, he’ll put himself in good position to be a starting XI Croatia player going into Euro 2016. Kramarić currently leads the HNL in goals with 21.
On the defensive side of things, ESPNFC.com is reporting that 27 year-old defender Ivan Strinić will join Serie A club Napoli on a free transfer. His contract with Dnipro expires on December 31st, 2014 and Strinić is free to go where he pleases. A move to Italy, both for playing and atmosphere has to be a good decision for Strinić, who left Hajduk for Dnipro in 2011.
tko zna jebi ga
How else could you play them together?
Neither are a behind the striker kind of player.
Torres is a favourite son there fan favourite can see him being on the bench much.
Atletico doesn’t use a 4-4-2
Don’t worry guys. Athletico off-loaded the underperforming alessio cerci for Torres. So they simply replaced one bench warmer for another. 🙂
Torres and SMM are different types of strikers.
Unsure if both could be used in a 4-4-2
@Ivica Stranger things have happened who knows. I know one thing both of them can’t play their together just like Lewandowski and Mandzukic at Bayern Munchen it’s only big enough for one of them to stay.
@German Croat Kovac
If Simeone decides to start Torres (a player nobody wants that Atletico got for free) over Mandzukic (a player everybody wants and who cost Atletico almost 20 million Euro), and Atletico begin to lose ground for the La Liga title…Diego Simeone will look like an idiot.
Torres and Simeone played together at Atletico Madrid so he will have more preference starting Torres over Mandzukic in spite of Mario’s form.
RE: Kramarić…
Latest news has him going to Chelsea for £7.5 million, and then being loaned out to Vitesse right away.
I don’t mind players going to Serie A either if they get playing time.
Some of you may enjoy this.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2014/09/analysing-football-styles?fsrc=scn/fb/te/bl/ed/adifferentballgame
@Soul Champ:
The English league is far rougher and officiating is far more lenient.
I haven’t watched much EPL this year until the other day. I watched half of the Man U/Tottenham game.
It is like watching a different sport when compared to LaLiga.
I don’t mind our guys going to Italy. They improve tactically which is big when it comes to Euros and World Cups. Only problem with Italy and La Liga teams not named Barca and Real is that they don’t pay as much as England and Germany and Ukraine/Russia
The Prem’s where it’s at!
It’ll make a man out of some of our softies.
And they’ll make good dough.
Kramaric could realistically be the 2nd best striker at Chelsea.
Spain (unless you’re training with Barca/Madrid ) and Italy are second tier to me.
Eastern Promises II: Corluka goes to England
Subasic-Srna Corluka Jedvaj Strinic- Brozovic Kovacic Rakitic Perisic Kramaric Mandzukic Modric probably wont play who knows! Vs Norway in March even with empty maksimir gazimo sve! If i see Subasic Srna Carli Lovren Pranjic Brozovic Rakitic Perisic Kovacic Olic Mandzukic then i hope croatia lose in maksimir!
Hapi Nova!
I’m sure he will have more offers in the summer. But, January is here and clubs always find a away to spend during this transfer window when the amount is less than 10 million.
@Allen…..there is only so much he can do in Russia before he is forced to leave as a health precaution.
kramaric ot chelsea =’s no good
him playing there out the gates would be very tough
–> probably will be loaned.. but locations seems to be dutch league
at 23 yrs old, kramaric is ready to test out a big 4 league rather than hang in holland
Well, it’s not like he’ll regress or anything by spending another half season with Rijeka.
Better he stays at Rijeka, continues to play first team football, stay in form, and continue to boost that confidence and exposure.
He may not take major steps forward in his development, but it’s better than sitting on the bench at Chelsea or possibly hurting his confidence by going on a goal drought on a team that can’t possibly feed him the ball like Leicester.
Maybe it’s wise to wait a bit and see if any more suitors come in the summer who may be a better fit for him. Wallets are a little bit looser in the summer too, so there may be some decent bids that satisfies all parties.
Corluka getting interest to return to England from Everton, West Ham, and Southampton. Very disappointed by the lack of Ziva jokes about this.
Unless Kramaric scores goals for repka, his value will never be higher. As for Mamic, he and tata Kramaric have issues that go back.
Taking the guaranteed money is tough to pass up.
I don’t think staying at Rijeka is good for Kramaric.
Everything I’ve read indicates he’s ready to get the fuck out of the HNL and rightfully so, the league blows.
Whether being loaned back or just staying, will make him unhappy and unmotivated IMHO
Kid needs to step up and take the best deal on the table and move forward. If Chelsea want him and promise to loan him out, I think that might be his best play, both financially and professionally.
@Dannyj
Super Mario is performing very well this season. He has 12 goals in 21 games.
The issue is that Atletico is not a rich club, and are apparently in debt. They only paid 18 million for Mandzo, and if the rumors of Man City offering over 30 million Euro for him are true…then you can’t blame them for making a clean 12-15 million Euro profit in less than six months.
They’re taking a big gamble on Torres regaining his form. Their other strikers are not performing this season, so it will all be on El Nino’s shoulders this season if Mandzo is sold.
@Colin
I’m not a fan of this Chelsea move, nor am I a fan of him being loaned out to Leicester City. He will be all alone in Leicester City and will be expected to singlehandedly pull them out of relegation. After they get relegated, he will probably be loaned out to another team that is weak in the midfield like Vitesse, and struggle to get help there as well.
I agree with Mamic’s comments. Not sure what his stake is other than hoping they could sell Kramaric for even more next season if he finishes the season strong and gets a lot of exposure in finishing second for that Golden Shoe award.
“Andrej Kramarić uopće ne zanima Chelsea kao igrač, nego kao jedna možebitna investicija ili kao poklon nekom sportskom prijatelju. Koristeći utjecaj Chelsea, Abramović uveseljava prijatelje u Vitesseu. Ponuda iznosi svega 1.5 miliona eura plus 2 miliona kroz bonuse za Rijeku, koji se nikad neće dogoditi. Ako ode, bio bi to najsramotniji potez prema NK Rijeka u povijesti. Bio bi to i udar na hrvatski nogomet. Kramarić treba ostati u Rijeci do EP 2016. kada bi stigla kulminacija njegove karijere, te kada bi napravio mnogo bolji transfer. – Zdravko Mamic
So what’s his steak in keeping Kramaric at Rijeka?? Isn’t he going to make bank if Rijeka sells him?
I’d rather see Krama get loaned out to Leicester to at least get consistent playing time. Even if LC is relegated, playing in the Championship would be great for him. Still Worlds ahead of the HNL. Would be a great transition for him.
That being said, I wouldn’t mind him finishing off the season on loan at Rijeka. Seven points out of first and still two matches against Dinamo remaining. Could definitely keep his confidence and fitness up. Sure beats him rotting on the bench somewhere.
@Dannyj
SMM is scoring and seems to fit like a glove at Athletico Madrid.
They routinely sell players for a profit and he is no exception.
i don’t get it though, is super mario not performing? seems to me he has scored a fair amount this year and still lots of season left and with a new team…
i actually am hoping super mario ends up in england now… he will have been pretty well everywhere and he pretty well scores where ever he goes… lets just hope he gets to a place that will appreciate his skill set and feed him and let him become a top 5 scorer again… he will do it given a fair shake
hmm just don’t want to see kramaric get lost in the shuffle… dude needs to play
rather him not get loaned back to rijeka.. last i checked their euro run is done and fuck finishing second in the HNL
time for him to move up in the world… i agree would like to see him in germany
even someone said inter… maybe he can finish some of those kovacic balls… i saw a video of kovacic and the jokers he had up front were down right bad on some of the plays
but if he can make his way on chelsea and do something, his stock and confidence will be through the roof!!
@ Ziva
Does Europa Liga cup tie you for CL?
@ Faux
The beast will find a place to Satisfy his hunger. Dude scores where ever he goes. You would think folks would learn to respect his unique skill set. Je bi ga.
Chelsea need Kramaric right now. Going for 4 trophies put a strain on the squad.
Chelsea is infamous for loaning young players in perpetuity .
I thought Marin was going places when he was at Werder Breman. Chelsea signs him and loaned him out all over the planet.
It is their MO.
I would much rather see him go to Inter or Dortmund or someplace he can have a shot at stable playing time in addition to a nice salary.
What is going to happen with Super Mario now that Fernando Torres is returning to Atletico Madrid?
Is he EPL bound?
Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool all need strikers.
Wouldn’t Kramaric be ineligible for champions league play due to being cup tied with Rijeka is the Europa Cup.