Hoffenheim sporting director Alexander Rosen has slapped a £43.9million fee on the head of Newcastle United target Andrej Kramaric, according to The Sun.
The report states that amid interest in their player from the Magpies, the club chief has now revealed that they had already received a bid for the forward back in January of £26.3m from an unnamed Italian side but that was not enough for them to accept, however, £43.7m would be an offer they would have to consider.
Rosen told German publication TZ: “I never rule out anything, that’s not in our business.
“We had an offer of €30m (£26.3m) for Andrej from Italy during the winter the break.
“That was not an option for us. But what happens if €50m (£43.7m) are bid, I cannot say.”
Kramaric was a flop during his time with Leicester City in a potential transfer that would be considered a massive gamble by the North East club if they were to continue their pursuit.
OPINION:
We think that Rafa Benitez and co. should and will steer clear of the 27-year-old who will likely be beyond their means financially anyway and we cannot see Mike Ashley smashing the club’s transfer fee record for a player who was a failure in England. What’s more, is that with interest in the forward also arriving from Bayern Munich, it is unlikely that the player would opt for a switch to the North East side when he can be guaranteed Champions League football and a chance to remain in the Bundesliga where he is a proven success. With 13 goals in the German top-flight from a total of 42 games, you could not say that the Croatian international was massively prolific and for that reason, we think that the Magpies have dodged a bullet here – we reckon, let him go to Bayern and they can pay the huge fee for the forward.