[5] Kruse began his career with hometown club TSV Reinbek before he joined Hamburg-based SV Vier- und Marschlande in summer 1998.

[7] He made his competitive debut for his new club on 18 August 2012 in a DFB-Pokal match against Victoria Hamburg, which ended in a 2–1 victory as Kruse scored the opening goal and provided the assist for Sebastian Freis's winner.

[9] He helped Freiburg claim their first win of the Bundesliga season in their third game on 16 September, netting a goal and providing two assists in an enthralling 5–3 defeat of TSG Hoffenheim.

[10][11] Kruse helped seal an upset win over Schalke on 15 December, providing assists for first half goals to both Jan Rosenthal and Jonathan Schmid in a 3–1 away victory at the Arena AufSchalke.

[12][13] On 16 February, he opened the scoring nine minutes before half time as Freiburg recorded their first win over Kruse's former club Werder Bremen in 11 years with a 3–2 away victory at the Weserstadion.

[14] Kruse scored twice in the second half of Freiburg's Bundesliga clash with Borussia Mönchengladbach on 30 March, securing a 2–0 victory for the club.

[19] Kruse continued his scoring form on 31 August, netting Gladbach's third goal of a 4–1 home victory over his former club Werder Bremen.

[21] He made his debut as a 70th-minute substitute on 1 August in the 2015 DFL-Supercup, and scored in the penalty shootout as Wolfsburg defeated Bayern Munich after a 1–1 draw.

[22] On 8 August 2015, Kruse scored his first goal for Wolfsburg in the fourth minute of 4–1 win at Stuttgarter Kickers in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

[26] On 22 April 2017, he scored four goals in one match for the first time in his career as Werder Bremen came back from 0–1 and 1–2 deficits to defeat Ingolstadt 4–2 and maintain a 10-match unbeaten run.

[57][58] In March 2016, Kruse was fined €25,000 and warned of his future conduct by Wolfsburg after it was revealed that he had lost €75,000 worth of poker winnings in the back seat of a taxi.

[59] In November 2022, at the World Series of Poker Europe in Rozvadov, Czechia, Kruse won his first WSOP bracelet in a €1,650 No Limit Hold 'em event besting 412 entrants for a prize of €134,152.

[62] In July 2021, he proposed to his wife Dilara Mardine of Kurdish origin on live TV after a 3–2 win against Saudi Arabia during the 2020 Summer Olympics.