Tottenham Hotspur are preparing to submit an audacious offer to sign Bournemouth centre-forward Eli Junior Kroupi this summer, according to Football Insider.
Kroupi has enjoyed a meteoric rise in senior football and has been setting records since emerging from Lorient’s academy.
He first broke Mateo Guendouzi’s record to become Lorient’s youngest-ever debutant at just 16 years and 345 days in the 2-1 win over Strasbourg in the 2022-23 season.
The centre-forward went on to break Andre Ayew’s record as the club’s youngest-ever scorer after netting in the 5–3 defeat to FC Nantes in September 2023 and also quickly became the youngest Ligue 1 player since 1974 to score a brace.
Following his move to the Premier League, Kroupi, described as ‘world class’ by Breaking the Lines, has been one of the breakout stars and has continued his record-breaking trend.
The 20-year-old netted 13 goals in the recently concluded season, surpassing the 12-goal records of Robbie Keane (1999-00) and Robbie Fowler (1993-94) to become the highest-scoring teenager in a debut campaign for Bournemouth.
His performances have drawn keen interest, but it appears Tottenham are looking to steal a march on their rivals, as Football Insider reports that Roberto De Zerbi’s side are willing to submit a £85m formal offer to sign Kroupi.
However, Bournemouth are adamant on retaining the centre-forward at the Vitality Stadium and will demand an offer well over Spurs’ proposed £85m.
Audacious offer
Speaking on Football Insider’s Transfer Insider podcast, transfer correspondent Pete O’Rourke reveals Tottenham’s interest in Kroupi and the Cherries’ stance on their key player, who is also of keen interest to Premier League winners Arsenal, European giants Paris Saint-Germain, and Barcelona.
He said, ‘Tottenham are willing to go to £85m for Junior Kroupi, which is a huge fee, but even then, Bournemouth would likely turn that down.’
On the possibility that the transfer could still go through, he added: ‘A deal is highly unlikely because they want to try and keep hold of their best players under the new manager, Marco Rose.’
O’Rourke further revealed that while Tottenham have moved ahead of other rivals in the race, the Cherries are not financially constrained to sell their best players.
‘For Spurs, it’s a very ambitious move for them to try and get ahead of all the clubs in this race for Junior Kroupi, but he is under contract until 2030 at Bournemouth, and they are under no immediate pressure to cash in on him or anything like that as well,’ O’Rourke added.
As the transfer window progresses, it’ll be interesting to see whether Tottenham will raise their offer or move to other attainable centre-forward targets.
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