ZDF, Baller, Roman, footballer
What will become of Christoph Kramer now?
Christoph Kramer can do a lot, does a lot and most of it really well. The 2014 world champion can no longer recommend his main job on the soccer field. Kramer is, so to speak, on the way to part-time soccer professional.
No TV expert got away as well with the critics during the European Football Championship as Christoph Kramer. The 2014 world champion knows how to conquer the hearts of the audience. Kramer almost always hits the right tone, offers the perfect mix of detailed analysis and entertainment. No surprise that Kramer also performs this combination of ingenious analysis and a pinch of humor in the “Copa TS” podcast. In the format of the ZDF presenter Tommi Schmitt, who has been friends with Kramer for some time, the soccer world champion appears regularly. Kramer belongs to the solid ensemble.
This also applies to the Baller League, an influencer football hall league on YouTube, which wants to arrive especially among the spectators, who are too long and boring a 90-minute football game. In the Baller League, Kramer is now even one of the team managers.
“That gave me a lot of fun”
But it doesn't stay with television, podcast and Baller League. In the meantime, Kramer has even gone under the book authors. The 33-year-old has written a so-called “coming-of-age novel”, said the renowned publisher Kiepenheuer and Witsch. Kramer's first work was released in the spring of 2025. “It has nothing to do with football. It's about love, about disappointment, about growing up,” Kramer already announced during the European Championship in the BILD-PODCAST “PhraseMäher”. “Every word is written itself, I was sitting at my desk for two to three hours in the evening for over a year. That gave me a lot of fun, gave me a lot in a not so easy time,” said Kramer.
Why this time was “not easy” does not lead to Kramer. The fact is: his sporty star has gone down in the recent past, the (former) main area of ​​employment by Christoph Kramer, the profession of football professional, at least moved into the background in public perception. Evil tongues claim that some ZDF viewers thought during the European Championship that the expert duo per Mertesacker and Christoph Kramer were not only two world champions, but also two ex-players.
Some will ask themselves: How does the man do that? How does Christoph Kramer bring all of his activities under one hat? Football professional, author, TV expert, Podcaster, Baller League team boss. Christoph Kramer has long been the jack of all of German football and probably the only de-facto part-time professional in the Bundesliga.
Gladbach wants to dissolve contract
In fact, Kramer is still employed as a Bundesliga professional at Borussia Mönchengladbach. The end of Kramer's time on the Lower Rhine is only a matter of time. Both sides have been unsuccessfully negotiating for months about a termination of a contract.
At his Borussia, Kramer had once again opened under the then coach Daniel Farke in the 2022/23 season. Because the native of Solingen succeeded, extended Kramer and the Borussia 2023 the contract by two more years. In retrospect, however, only Kramer benefited from this, the club was not at all. Under Farke's successor Gerardo Seoane, Kramer no longer got a foot on the floor. Over the entire last season, Kramer was only in the starting XI once.
In the second half of the season, the midfielder was suddenly completely disappeared. The Borussia did not communicate precisely why Kramer was not ready to play and training for weeks. Only Kramer himself revealed the secret after the end of the season, not surprisingly in the “Copa TS” podcast. “I had a right, really nasty pneumonia,” said Kramer. “When I went from the bed to the kitchen, I had to take a ten -minute break, that was violent. I also had eight, nine days of fever. I was really dismantled.”
Future seems completely open
In summer, Kramer therefore looked for a conversation with coach Seoane and sports director Roland Virkus, and Loted his opportunities for the coming season. The verdict was very surprisingly clear: Kramer has no chance, Borussia's midfield center is well enough and qualitatively well enough.
Kramer actually no longer plays a role in the planning, but has a contract with an estimated annual salary in the range of three million euros. Gladbach wants to get rid of him. Kramer, however, has every right to insist on his valid contract. In the meantime, however, the reports are increasing, according to which the stuck negotiations on the home straight and gets Kramer receives a severance payment, but can be deleted from the salary list before the transfer period ended at the end of the transfer period.
It is questionable whether and how it will continue for Kramer on the soccer field. It is possible that he hangs his active career. Just as conceivable that he will continue his career for a few more years and play for a lower salary on a smaller club. What is certain is that Christoph Kramer will remain omnipresent and certainly continue to walk through life extremely successfully. Just not primarily as a football professional.