Real Madrid considering a world champion
Kramer on the horizon



Germany's Christoph Kramer is one of the names under consideration at Real Madridto take the place of Khedira. The World Cup-winning defensive midfielder is of interest to the club board as is shown by two meetings they have had with Gerd vom Bruch, Kramer's agent.

Kramer is under contract to Bayer Leverkusen until 30th June 2017 but for the past three seasons, including the current one, he has been sent out on loan - something which he does not understand. This apparent lack of confidence in him could lead to the player looking for a way out.

At the Bernabéu, they like the look of the German and are considering him as an alternative to Khedira. For the present, they are just looking at the situation as they did with Kroos - watching the player and finding out what his real intentions are.

Bayern are doing much the same, as they always show interest in any emerging stars in the Bundesliga.

At the moment, Kramer is playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach on loan from Bayer Leverkusen and is part of that group of players who began their international careers when they won the European under-21 championship, and who little by little have been getting into the first team under the guidance of Joachim Löw.

Kramer played in the last World Cup, and was a surprise choice for the final against Argentina. Unfortunately for the 23-year-old, he received a hard knock and had to be taken off.

Bundesliga pips Premier League to top of attendance table, recording second biggest average in global professional sport after NFL


Study looks at the top leagues in Europe, Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia
Sportsmail reveals the Bundesliga has the highest average fan attendance
England's Premier League is second, although plays 74 more games

Premier League attendance levels last season were the highest in England's top division for 64 years, and more people attend Premier League games each season than in any league in the world, at almost 14 million.

As MailSport’s groundbreaking study of the world's major leagues shows, only Germany's Bundesliga can top the Premier League in any measure of turnstile success - fans attending per game.

The Bundesliga's figure of 42,609 fans per game is the biggest average in world football and the second biggest average in global professional sport - after American’s NFL.

The Premier League averaged 36,695 fans per game last season to be the second best attended football league per game by some margin ahead of La Liga in third (26,955 fans per game), then Italy’s Serie A (23,385), with Mexico's LigaMX (22,271) pushing France's Ligue 1 (21,155) out of the top five.

The Dutch Eredivisie and MLS in the USA and Canada are the seventh and eighth best attended leagues with more than 19,000 fans per game each.

In terms of total fans through the turnstiles, the Premier League, with 20 teams and 380 matches had 13.94 million fans coming through the turnstiles last season, or almost a million more than in the Bundesliga, where the 18 teams played 306 games.

The study looked at 34 leagues around the world, including the top divisions from 33 nations across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia - plus the Championship from England as well.

The Premier League has the biggest aggregate attendance in the study (13.94m) then the Bundesliga (13m) and La Liga (10.2m) followed by the Championship, where the 552 games between the 24 teams were watched by 9.2m last season.

The Scottish Premiership is 21st on the list of 34 with 10,228 fans per game last season but that is down considerably since Rangers were demoted. It will be down again this season without either Hearts or Hibs in the top flight.

Bundesliga teams booming in Europe

For the second consecutive season, Germany's Champions League teams are all in the knockout stages. Its Europa League clubs are also through. DW's Jonathan Harding says it's proof of the country's football dominance.

"We are 14th in the league. I think that says everything you need to know about the quality of the Bundesliga," said Borussia Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp when asked for his thoughts on Germany yet again having all four of their teams in the Champions League knockout stages. While Klopp's comment is laced with his usual jovial tone and nicely distracts from Dortmund's domestic failings, his point retains validity. German clubs have really come to play on the big stage again this season.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke 04 are all in the pot for the knockout draw of the Champions League - decided on Monday, December 15 at 10:30 UTC. In addition, both Wolfsburg and Borussia Mönchengladbach have also progressed from the group stages of the Europa League, the latter even finished undefeated victors of their group. Six from six (could have been seven had Mainz not lost in qualifying) - no other nation in football can say that.

By no means have the Bundesliga's representatives been perfect in Europe - all four teams have tasted defeat. While Bayern and Dortmund won their groups - the former with five wins to their name and the latter on goal difference - Leverkusen went through in second having spurned numerous chances to top the group. Schalke, perhaps Germany's weakest representative in Europe, sneaked through with a win on the final matchday.