63 games under Hecking
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VfL Bochum is open to signing former world champion Christoph Kramer (33) without a club. “He was a player for Dieter Hecking. They also had a pretty good relationship. It would therefore be particularly suitable,” said the managing director of the bottom of the Bundesliga, Ilja Kaenzig, on “Bild TV”. Kramer played 63 games under Hecking, only appearing more often under Marco Rose and Lucien Favre.
However, there have been no discussions with the 2014 world champion so far. Bochum’s transfer planning is ongoing. “The team has to give something in one, two, maybe three positions,” said the 51-year-old. “Crazy things, I would be willing to do things like that. Whether it’s Chris Kramer or someone else. We won’t save the club with run-of-the-mill solutions.”
Kramer terminated his contract with Borussia Mönchengladbach, which runs until 2025, in the summer. In the “CopaTS” podcast he recently admitted that he had not found a new club, although he was prepared to make big salary cuts. With a market value of 1.2 million euros, Kramer is the second most valuable German professional without a club after Alexander Hack (31).
The 33-year-old is anything but unknown in Bochum. In 2011 he was loaned out by Bayer Leverkusen to the then second division club and celebrated his breakthrough as a professional there. Among other things, he played with Bayern’s Leon Goretzka (29) at VfL. During his time in Gladbach he met current Bochum coach Hecking.