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B<\/span>ournemouth have unearthed another diamond in Eli Junior Kroupi. Staff at the club consider the 19-year\u2011old a generational talent and no wonder, given last weekend the forward became the first teenager to register 12 goals in his debut Premier League season since Robbie Fowler in 1993-94. If Kroupi adds to that tally there is a decent chance it will end with the club qualifying for Europe for the first time.<\/p>\nThe numbers speak for themselves: Kroupi has averaged a goal every 121 minutes \u2013 only Erling Haaland has a better ratio in the league \u2013 and of his 43 shots, 20 have been on target, the joint-best conversion rate with Brentford\u2019s Igor Thiago. Among teenagers in the 21st century, only Romelu Lukaku has scored more in a campaign in the competition (17 in 2012-13, on loan at West Brom from Chelsea), and only Lamine Yamal (16) has scored more among the under-20s in Europe\u2019s top five leagues this term. Kroupi\u2019s name is on the lips of scouts at every elite club, with Barcelona thought to have joined Manchester City and Arsenal in keeping tabs. Bournemouth do not want to sell and would demand at least \u00a380m.<\/p>\nEli Junior Kroupi celebrates scoring against Tottenham earlier this season.<\/span> Photograph: Michael Steele\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nGiven the goals, it is easy to forget Kroupi tends to operate as a No 10, not as an orthodox No 9. He thrives as \u201ca nine and a half\u201d, as Yvon Mvogo, the Lorient goalkeeper and his former teammate, puts it. It is also worth remembering that Kroupi was playing in Ligue 2 last season. At Lorient, where Kroupi scored 22 goals to help them win promotion as champions, it was often a case of teammates giving him the ball and letting him do the rest, but Kroupi has proved himself a team player for Andoni Iraola\u2019s side. He scored two instinctive goals on his first start, at Crystal Palace in October.<\/p>\n
Mvogo first came across Kroupi when Kroupi, aged 16, began training with the first team a couple of times a week. At the time R\u00e9gis Le Bris, now at Sunderland, was the head coach. \u201cI consider Junior like a little brother,\u201d says Mvogo. \u201cSometimes he comes back to Lorient to visit. We talk a bit, we exchange messages. He says he\u2019s having fun in the Premier League and that it\u2019s the best league in the world. I asked him: \u2018What\u2019s your secret? How are you doing so well in your first season?\u2019 He doesn\u2019t know himself. I think he is just enjoying himself. He is gifted \u2013 he has something you cannot learn in a soccer school.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n\n
\nQuick Guide<\/span><\/p>\nFrance forwards’ league goals this season<\/h4>\n <\/p>\n
\n
Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, Real Madrid (pictured), 24<\/p>\n
Michael Olise, Bayern Munich, 14 <\/p>\n
Marcus Thuram, Inter, 13<\/p>\n
Eli Junior Kroupi, Bournemouth, 12<\/b><\/p>\n
Hugo Ekiti’s, Liverpool, 11<\/p>\n
Bradley Barcola, Paris Saint-Germain, 10 <\/p>\n
Ousmane Dembele, PSG, 10<\/p>\n
Florian Thauvin, Lens, 10<\/p>\n
Jean-Philippe Mateta, Crystal Palace, 10 <\/p>\n
Kingsley Coman, Al-Nassr, I am<\/p>\n
D\u00e9sir\u00e9 Dou\u00e9, PSG, six<\/p>\n
Maghnes Akliouche, Monaco, six<\/p>\n
Christopher Nkunku, Milan, five<\/p>\n
Rayan Cherki, Manchester City, four<\/p>\n
Randal Kolo Muani, Spurs, one<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Perhaps it is innate. Kroupi\u2019s Ivorian father, Eli, was a striker for Lorient and Nancy. Bournemouth were alerted to Kroupi when their owner, Bill Foley, now the majority shareholder at Lorient, acquired a minority stake in the French club three years ago. The clubs share resources and, although Bournemouth do not have a France-based scout, use of Lorient\u2019s scouting database is akin to boots on the ground. Bournemouth staff were also able to watch Lorient train and gathered references from, among others, Laurent Koscielny, the sporting director who coached Kroupi in the academy, and Florian Delestrain, the head of recruitment.<\/p>\n
Lorient raved about Kroupi, a Next Generation pick in 2023 after making his debut aged 16 and Bournemouth kept a close eye. There was other interest, most seriously from France, but Bournemouth were ahead of the curve and acted in January last year, though all parties felt it best he completed the season at Lorient. After the move was confirmed, he scored 13 goals in 13 games. \u201cHe could\u2019ve been like: \u2018I\u2019ve got my transfer to the biggest league,\u2019\u201d says Mvogo. \u201cBut instead he said: \u2018Guys, I\u2019ve started something with you, I want to finish it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Iraola was unsure whether Kroupi would be suited to being a No 10 in the Premier League because of the off-ball demands in one of the most important and high-intensity roles in his 4\u20112\u20113\u20111. It tends to mean kickstarting the press with Evanilson, the No 9, and dropping on to the opposition No 6. The position was embraced by Justin Kluivert, and Kroupi was also open-minded, quickly adapting and showcasing his ability to carry the ball between the lines and link play. He had to improve his out-of-possession work and fitness.<\/p>\nEli Junior Kroupi (right) shows the energy that Andoni Iraola has helped integrate into his game.<\/span> Photograph: CameraSport\/David Horton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nKroupi\u2019s parents moved to Dorset with him, helping their son settle, and the player has acknowledged the value of the English lessons provided by the club. He is close with Bournemouth\u2019s francophone contingent \u2013 Amine Adli, Bafod\u00e9 Diakit\u00e9 and Adrien Truffert \u2013 and in the early days Truffert, who speaks excellent English and recently described Kroupi as a \u201cfox in the box\u201d, would sometimes sit in on individual meetings with Iraola or his assistants, Tommy Elphick and Shaun Cooper, to translate if required. Now, however, there is no such need.<\/p>\n
Kroupi has poacher instincts but in pre-season Iraola spied his ball-striking ability, discernible in goals from outside the box against Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. His intelligence and skill have shone, never more so than at home to Palace in victory last weekend, when he read James Hill\u2019s pass, nicked the ball around Chadi Riad, eliminating the defender, twirled and charged on to his own touch. \u201cI saved a couple of his shots at training,\u201d Mvogo says, puffing his cheeks and smiling. \u201cBut most of the time they went in. His finishing is scary. He knows exactly where the ball is and exactly where to place his shots \u2013 he doesn\u2019t even need to look at the goal. The guy is a killer, an elite finisher.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bournemouth, who visit Fulham on Saturday hoping to extend their unbeaten Premier League run to a club\u2011record 16 matches, have absorbed the departures of key players and are on course to achieve their highest finish and eclipse their record points tally of 56, set last season. Since then they have sold Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez and Antoine Semenyo, to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool and Manchester City respectively, raising more than \u00a3200m. Dango Ouattara was also sold to Brentford in a deal worth \u00a342.5m.<\/p>\nKroupi, who has four goals in his past five games, is not the only youngster excelling at Bournemouth, whose recruitment has long centred on signing the best up-and-coming talents. In January they paid \u00a325m to sign Rayan from Vasco da Gama, in Rio de Janeiro, and the 19-year-old winger has flourished, making his Brazil debut in March; there is a reason Bournemouth inserted a \u20ac100m (\u00a386m) release clause. Last weekend Kroupi, yet to complete a full 90 minutes, and Rayan became the first teenagers to score in back-to-back Premier League games.<\/p>\nThis season Alex Scott, a \u00a325m buy from Bristol City three years ago, was rewarded for his evolution into one of the league\u2019s leading midfielders with an England call-up. Hill, 24 and a key defensive pillar, was a \u00a31m buy from Fleetwood in 2022. Last summer Bournemouth signed Veljko Milosavljevic from Red Star Belgrade after he impressed in the Champions League, aged 17. It was a similar story with Huijsen and Kerkez, both of whom joined at 19.<\/p>\n
Kroupi\u2019s form could alter Didier Deschamps\u2019s World Cup plans. The France manager is thought to be reluctant to call up uncapped players for the tournament but there is a place up for grabs after Hugo Ekitik\u00e9 ruptured an achilles, and Kylian Mbapp\u00e9, Michael Olise and Marcus Thuram are the only Frenchmen to have scored more league goals than Kroupi this season. Kroupi has represented France across all age groups and Thierry Henry recently said that while in charge of the under-21s he considered calling up a 16-year-old Kroupi, who went on to score nine goals in nine games for the under-17s.<\/p>\n
For Mvogo, one Kroupi strike sticks in the memory. Lorient were chasing promotion, a handful of games remaining when, a minute after being subbed on at Troyes, the score 0-0, Kroupi pirouetted clear of three defenders and sent an unstoppable, curling shot into the top corner from 25 yards. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it,\u201d says Mvogo. \u201cEverybody was like: \u2018What the hell has just happened?\u2019 It was perfect and thanks to Junior we won 1-0. After that moment, it was like: \u2018Wow, this guy is going to have a great career.\u2019 Every time Junior is on your team, you feel like you have a gamechanger on your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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