AFC Bournemouth made an attempt to sign FC Lorient’s Eli Junior Kroupi in the summer window.
That’s at least what Friday’s edition of Ouest-France reports. and they mention Bournemouth’s failed efforts.
The 18-year-old made his first team debut towards the end of the 2022/23 season under Régis Le Bris’ orders. He scored five goals and registered three assists from 30 Ligue 1 matches last season.
Régis Le Bris used the striker mainly as a substitute in the second half of the season. The newspaper claims Eli Junior Kroupi didn’t receive any explanations from the manager.
This made the attacker unhappy and he decided to leave the French club in the last window. Bournemouth came forward to secure his services.
It’s claimed several clubs were keeping close tabs on his situation, ‘notably Bournemouth’. The report adds Andoni Iraola’s side tabled a €15m bid for a player who just had over a full season at the highest level under his belt.
Lorient rejected the Cherries’ proposal.
Eli Junior Kroupi eventually decided to stay, and Régis Le Bris moving to Sunderland in the summer favoured him. Lorient were relegated to Ligue 2, and he’s starred this season, managing six goals and an assist from nine games.
Lorient’s manager, Olivier Pantaloni, is also pleased that the attacker is still at the club.
“Junior is a bit different from the others. He’s at the start of his career, and he may have heard talk of a move to the big clubs, but today he’s got game time here. Would he have had it elsewhere? At Lorient, he’s having a great time scoring goals,” he said.
Lorient are second in Ligue 2, but there’s a close bunch together so promotion will be tough to secure. Should they fail then it’s likely Bournemouth’s €15m would then be accepted, maybe even less.
