There was little fanfare over summer for the arrival of the French teenager, Eli Junior Kroupi, largely because his transfer to Bournemouth from the Cherries' partner club Lorient had already been agreed.
Kroupi was signed on the back of a big breakout year in France, having scored nine and assisted twice for the would-be Ligue 2 champions during the first half of 2024/25.
Who is Bournemouth striker Eli Junior Kroupi?
Since arriving in England, Kroupi had been somewhat overlooked, perhaps not deemed a 'new signing' in the purest sense.
Four goals from just eight shots in his first 165 league minutes rectified that. Now, everybody is taking note.
The 19-year-old is an extremely effective striker of the ball, marrying up placement and power to great effect.
He turns good shooting opportunities into great ones and great chances into the un-saveable.
Kroupi's goal against Nottingham Forest in a 2-0 Bournemouth win back in October was typical of his style, finding the corners of the goal, giving goalkeepers less chance of saving his efforts.
The player's recent goal-rush isn't his first taste of top flight football, it must be said; Kroupi appeared as a 17-year-old for a woefully-understaffed Lorient side in Ligue 1 two seasons ago, scoring five times.
How on earth, then, did football's big clubs miss out on the £12 million French teenager who scored 22 times in 30 appearances for the Ligue 2 champions last year?
FourFourTwo's long-running 'The Boy's A Bit Special' feature has been going since the magazine's first issue, highlighting the best young players in the United Kingdom and abroad.
As of September 2025, we've given it a revamp. Our youth football expert Joe Donnohue will be profiling four teenagers each month, explaining why they're, well, a bit special.
The answers lies in the multi-club model under which Bournemouth operate.
Lorient are one part of Bill Foley's Black Knight Football and Entertainment stable. Foley, a wealthy US businessman, replaced outgoing sporting director Richard Hughes, now of Liverpool, with Tiago Pinto at the beginning of last season and the Portuguese executive has since overseen the impressive rebuild of Andoni Iraola's squad, of which Kroupi is expected to play a key part in the weeks and months to come.
Without doubt, though, the Cherries' Kroupi acquisition is unlikely to have been secured without Foley's minority holding in Lorient.
For a club who've made their mark on the Premier League throughout 2025, their latest revelation could prove to be their next big sale as Kroupi inevitably begins to court interest from Europe's major clubs.
Kroupi's father, also called Eli, was a teammate of current Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris. The French coach handed Kroupi Jr. his professional debut for Lorient.
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