Liverpool keeping close tabs on £80m ‘phenomenon’ who ‘matches perfectly’ with FSG’s strategy
Liverpool are reportedly keeping close tabs on a player from Richard Hughes’ former club Bournemouth.
The Reds’ sporting director oversaw one signing from his alma mater last summer in Milos Kerkez, although persistent links with Antoine Semenyo ultimately came to naught as he joined Manchester City in January.
While the Merseysiders didn’t land the in-form Ghanaian, there’s another attacker from Andoni Iraola’s squad who’s seemingly made his way onto the radar at Anfield.
Liverpool eyeing a move for Kroupi
According to CaughtOffside, Liverpool are keeping a close eye on Eli Junior Kroupi, who’s also reportedly being watched by Chelsea, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, and Bournemouth are ‘realistic’ about the scale of interest that the 19-year-old is attracting.
The report describes him as an ‘explosive’ and ‘technically gifted’ striker who’s ‘still learning’, adding that he ‘matches perfectly’ with FSG’s transfer strategy and is viewed at Anfield as someone who could become a long-term attacking option rather than an immediate starter.
Insiders at the Vitality Stadium believe that he could generate a club-record sale of £70m-£80m, which’d mark a severalfold profit on the £10m for which they signed him from Lorient last year.
‘Phenomenon’ Kroupi would have strong competition at Liverpool
Kroupi has been a revelation in his first season in England, netting eight goals in 20 Premier League games thus far, with only Hugo Ekitike surpassing that tally at Liverpool in the current top-flight campaign.
His former Lorient team-mate Tiemoue Bakayoko (previously of Chelsea) hailed the teenager as a ‘phenomenon’ and even drew comparisons with Kylian Mbappe ‘in terms of the maturity in his game’ (BBC Sport), extraordinary praise for the youngster to draw at this stage of his career.
There are still a few underlying aspects of his game which have plenty of scope for improvement, as illustrated by performance figures from Fotmob, but he has more than enough time on his side to enhance those as he makes his way in English football.
Kroupi would have elite competition for a starting berth at Liverpool in the form of Ekitike and the currently injured Alexander Isak, but his goalscoring numbers this season would suggest that he’d feel confident of rising to that challenge rather than being cowed by it.
It remains to be seen whether Hughes will make a concrete move for the Bournemouth striker in 2026, given the Reds’ greater need for strengthening in other parts of Arne Slot’s squad, although it’s nonetheless an intriguing transfer rumour to keep an eye on throughout the spring months.
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