Bournemouth star Eli Junior Kroupi has had limited minutes so far.
The Cherries bought the 19-year-old in February, though he would remain in France on loan until the summer – now, he’s been integrated into manager Andoni Iraola’s plans and eased into first-team reckoning over the past few weeks.
But after a summer in which Bournemouth sold three first-teamers for over £50 million, could Kroupi become the club’s first £80m sale?
You may like
Bournemouth star Eli Junior Kroupi has long been touted as a future star
Iraola has been cautious with Kroupi thus far (Image credit: Diego Souto/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
In 2023, Kroupi became Lorient’s youngest-ever player, breaking the record previously set by Matteo Guendouzi – and in his development, he would become a key player for Les Merlus.
After agreeing his Premier League move in the winter, Kroupi scored 13 in 13 appearances to lead Lorient to the Ligue 2 title.
Kroupi scored on his first Premier League start (Image credit: Getty Images)
The teenager has naturally drawn comparisons with the likes of Hugo Ekitike and given that he’s still young, his final form is yet to show itself: he’s played up front but for Bournemouth boss Iraola, he has the potential to slot into a number of positions.
With Evanilson ruled out against Crystal Palace with a calf problem, Kroupi started up front – and unlike most lone-striker systems, Iraola makes sure to surround his frontman with support from both wings and Justin Kluivert at no.10 behind.
But Kroupi’s movement arguably his biggest strength – and when he’s played behind the striker, he’s capable of ghosting beyond and into the box: he’s adept at getting shots off with either foot, but his penchant to hit with his right means that he could be on option on the left-wing, too.
FourFourTwo certainly sees stylistic similarities with Leandro Trossard in his profile – but should Ekitike develop into a more physical presence, he could well become a striker in the long-term.
Kroupi has represented most of France’s youth sides (Image credit: Seb Daly – Sportsfile/UEFA via Getty Images)
That’s where his value becomes truly interesting: as we saw over the summer, Ekitike commanded a huge fee after excellent form in the Bundesliga and should Kroupi become a reliable no.9 in England, there’s every chance that the elite clubs will sniff around for a Premier League-proven striker.
For now, he’s still now guarantee to keep his spot when Evanilson returns – but given the trajectories of Dean Huijsen, Ilya Zabarnyi and Antoine Semenyo under Iraola, you wouldn’t bet against the Cherries turning a handsome profit for the Frenchman one day.
Editorial Disclaimer:The news articles published on this website are not owned or created by us directly. We aggregate and publish news content using publicly available news feeds, and each article includes a source credit or link to the original publisher at the bottom of the post.
If any website or content owner finds that their material has been included here and does not wish for their content to appear on our platform, please contact us at [email protected] . Upon receiving your request, we will promptly remove your site from our content feed and database.
We value and respect the rights of all content creators and strive to ensure proper attribution for every piece of content shared.