Newcastle’s World Cup striker target valued at €50m

Newcastle strike target Andrej Kramaric is valued in the €50million bracket by his club Hoffenheim.

The former Leicester forward is in demand this summer with Bayern Munich also understood to be tracking him.

The Croatia international scored 13 goals in 34 Bundesliga games last season, and added eight assists and his value has rocketed since his £9.9million move to Hoffenheim from the Foxes in July 2016.

Kramaric, 27, has also been the subject of interest from Italy with Hoffenheim sporting director Alexander Rosen claiming the club rejected an offer for Kramaric in January.

The Chronicle claimed recently that Kramaric had been lined up as a potential summer signing at Newcastle with the club ready to break their £17m transfer record to get him.

That though seems ambitious with Hoffenheim valuing him at more than double that.

“I never rule out anything, that’s not in our business,” Rosen told TZ: “We had an offer of €30m for Andrej from Italy during the winter the break. That was not an option for us.

“But what happens if €50m is offered I cannot say.”

Kramaric, who is under contract at Hoffenheim until 2020, started in Croatia’s opening 2-0 victory against Nigeria at the World Cup last week.

Kramaric moved to England to join Leicester in 2014 for a then-club record fee of £9m, but he failed to make his mark and was loaned to Hoffenheim after making just 20 appearances in a  one-and-a-half-year spell in England.

He then made the move permanent and has gone on to make a big impression in the Bundesliga, with The Chronicle reporting that Newcastle’s head of recruitment Steve Nickson went to watch him last season.