Leicester striker Andrej Kramaric has been challenged to impress while on loan at Hoffenheim and ensure that he features at the European Championships for Croatia.

The 24-year-old has been restricted to just five Premier League appearances for City this season and will spend the second half of the campaign with the Bundesliga strugglers, who are currently bottom of the table.

They have won just twice in 17 league games and have scored 17 goals so will be hoping Kramaric can provide them with some much-needed firepower.

“I spoke with him to understand what he wants to do and a loan is a solution that works for everybody,” Leicester head coach Claudio Ranieri explained.

“Andrej has the European Championships to think about this summer, so it’s important for him that he has the opportunity to play.

“He is a fantastic player and a great professional, but, in this moment, we have other strikers that are playing well.”

Kramaric joined the Foxes just over a year ago after impressing in his homeland with Rijeka, but he has been knocked down the pecking order at the King Power Stadium by the likes of Jamie Vardy, Riyad Mahrez and Shinji Okazaki.

He broke into the senior Croatia set-up during 2014 and found the net in Euro 2016 qualifiers against both Malta and Azerbaijan and will be hoping to win the nod from coach Ante Cacic for the action in France this summer.

Croatia have been drawn alongside reigning champions Spain, the Czech Republic and Turkey for Euro 2016 and they are 1.36 to qualify from Group D and 1.57 to top the group.