By Alex Roberts
Admittedly, not all of the 19-year-old’s goals have come from the bench, but a truly ridiculous six in 510 Premier League minutes certainly puts him alongside the others in that deadly category.
Like Brighton and Brentford, Bournemouth are very intentional with their recruitment, a £12 million fee may not seem like much to bigger clubs, but the South Coast club wouldn’t have spent the money if they didn’t believe in his potential.
Coming through the youth ranks at Lorient, Bournemouth made their move in January 2025, reportedly beating Chelsea, who else, to his signature. He had 10 goals in 19 games over the first half of the season, and staying in France on loan for the second, he ended the campaign with 23 in 32.
Standing at 5’10” with a relatively skinny build, Junior Kroupi shouldn’t be considered a traditional number nine, but then again, there aren’t really that many in the Premier League beyond Erling Haaland and Igor Thiago.
Back in France, he was often played on the left wing, naturally drifting inside, not unlike a certain Real Madrid superstar, according to former teammate and ex-Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, who played with him at Lorient.
Speaking after Lorient’s 3-3 draw with Lyon back in 2023, in which Junior Kroupi scored a brace, Bakayoko didn’t hold back in his praise telling Ligue1.com: “He’s a phenomenon. He reminds me a little of Kylian Mbappé in terms of the maturity of his game. He already has good stats for a youngster his age.”
Junior Kroupi became the club’s youngest ever Ligue 1 scorer in 2023/24, his first full season of senior football, ending the campaign with five goals and three assists in 31 appearances, earning widespread acclaim despite Lorient’s relegation.
He’s matured even more since then. Watching him play, it’s clear that finishing is the best aspect of his game. Striking the ball with his instep, his shots generate a LOT of power, with a knack for finding corners beyond the reach of opposition goalkeepers.
Junior Kroupi’s shot map in the Premier League this season
Taking a close look at where his goals have found the back of the net, all six of his Premier League strikes have been into a corner. Close range, mid range, long range, it doesn’t matter, he’s finding the back of the net.
So, let’s take a closer look at some of his goals. From close range, there is his 93rd-minute equaliser against Leeds, when, you guessed it, he came off the bench. Bournemouth delivered a free kick into the box, Marcos Senesi nodded it on, and Junior Kroupi fired the ball beyond Karl Darlow to break some Elland Road hearts.
From mid-range, we can look to the mental 4–4 draw with Manchester United just before Christmas. After collecting the ball from Álex Jiménez via slight deflection, Kroupi showcased that finishing we were talking about to slot the ball into the bottom left corner.
Finally, we only need to go as far back as the 3-2 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday for a beautiful long-range goal. Hitting it with his instep, he didn’t give David Raya, arguably the best ‘keeper in the league, a chance.
All of this is amazing, but we’re going to have to put our statistics hat on an potentially rain on the parade. Six goals in 510 Premier League minutes is an anomaly, and with Bournemouth tumbling down the table, it may not even matter.
Junior Kroupi’s shooting stats per 90 in the Premier League
Averaging 1.06 goals per 90 minutes, he’s even more prolific than everyone’s favourite Norwegian robot, but is it sustainable? Kroupi Junior is massively overperforming in front of goal, with his six goals coming from an xG of 2.94.
Those are numbers that would make 2024/25 Bryan Mbeumo blush, and he’s one of the league’s biggest xG over performers. Unless your name is Lionel Messi, and you’re a complete statistical anomaly in every sense of the word, it’s unlikely Junior Kroupi will be able to keep it up.
The young striker isn’t the entire answer to Bournemouth’s miserable form, they haven’t won any of their last 11 Premier League games, but Andoni Iraola admitted he needs to find a way to give him more minutes.
After the defeat to Arsenal, the Spaniard said: “In games where we put him straight away as a nine, also we haven’t had the best of the results and he’s a player that his finishing is very, very good and we have to find, I have to find a way, where he can give us more things because when we play with two strikers, I feel like we lose also the control a little bit of the games.”
Bournemouth had to deal with a similar situation last season, at the other end of the pitch. Dean Huijsen burst on to the scene after a couple of injuries gave him the opportunity to make an impression.
Now, the centre back is living the dream at Real Madrid, although a recent injury has seen him miss the past month or so. Junior Kroupi can look to that as a potential pathway, it may not be the Spanish giants, but it feels like just a matter of time before one of the big boys come calling.
For the time being, he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s in striker flow state, an incredibly rare vein of form where everything he touches turns to gold. It may not be forever, but we should enjoy it while it lasts, and Bournemouth need to learn how to make the most of it.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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