Tottenham Hotspur are preparing to submit a formal offer worth £85 million to sign Bournemouth centre-forward Eli Junior Kroupi this summer transfer window.
The news comes from Football Insider, who report that Spurs are looking to steal a march on several high-profile rivals interested in the 20-year-old striker.
Kroupi has been one of the most exciting young forwards in English football, described as “world class” by Breaking the Lines following his outstanding debut Premier League campaign.
The Ivory Coast-born forward first made headlines at Lorient, where he broke Mateo Guendouzi’s record to become the club’s youngest-ever debutant at just 16 years and 345 days old.
That debut came in a 2-1 victory over Strasbourg during the 2022-23 season, and Kroupi continued breaking records with remarkable consistency throughout his time in France.
He went on to surpass Andre Ayew’s record as Lorient’s youngest-ever scorer after netting in a 5-3 defeat to FC Nantes in September 2023, also becoming the youngest Ligue 1 player since 1974 to score a brace.
Since arriving in the Premier League with Bournemouth, Kroupi has continued his record-breaking trajectory, netting 13 goals in his debut campaign for the Cherries.
That tally surpassed the previous records of 12 goals set by both Robbie Keane in 1999-00 and Robbie Fowler in 1993-94, making him the highest-scoring teenager in a debut Bournemouth campaign.
Football Insider transfer correspondent Pete O’Rourke revealed the details on the Transfer Insider podcast, outlining both Spurs’ ambitions and Bournemouth’s firm stance on keeping their star player.
“Tottenham are willing to go to £85m for Junior Kroupi, which is a huge fee, but even then, Bournemouth would likely turn that down,” O’Rourke said.
He poured cold water on a potential deal materialising, adding that “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 also noted that Bournemouth are under no financial pressure to sell, given Kroupi’s contract situation and the club’s stability heading into next season.
“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.
Tottenham, managed by Roberto De Zerbi, face serious competition from Premier League winners Arsenal, as well as European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona in the race for Kroupi’s signature.
Whether Spurs will raise their offer beyond £85 million or pivot to alternative striking targets remains one of the most compelling storylines of the summer window.