West Ham United’s pursuit of a new striker in this year’s winter transfer window saw three bids fail, and with one of their targets back then, Saturday’s encounter with Bournemouth will provide a glimpse of what could have been.
One of those West Ham offers was of up to £30million ($39.2m at the current rate), plus bonuses, for Eli Junior Kroupi, a then 18-year-old at French club Lorient. An injury to Germany international striker Niclas Fullkrug, who had been among their signings the previous summer, and Michail Antonio’s absence after his serious car crash in the December accelerated their push for a marksman. Antonio has since left the club, following the expiry of his contract at the end of the season.
Kroupi was a highly-rated talent making waves in Ligue 2, France’s second tier. Sources with knowledge of the situation, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships, say West Ham’s recruitment team scouted him on several occasions. But Bournemouth, whose owner Bill Foley also holds a 30 per cent stake at Lorient, were the first Premier League club to bid (£12million, plus bonuses) for Kroupi in that winter window.
Sources with knowledge of the deal — who spoke under the condition of anonymity to protect relationships — say Bournemouth built a rapport with the player and his family, so much so that they had no desire to entertain West Ham’s better offer. Their bid was not accepted by Lorient, and the forward felt Bournemouth were a better fit for his football development. As part of the transfer, the south-coast club agreed to loan Kroupi back to Lorient for the remainder of the season.
January was a frustrating month in terms of signings for West Ham’s new Graham Potter, who was eventually sacked in September.
Aston Villa rejected the east Londoners’ bid, worth up to £57million, for Colombia international striker Jhon Duran. The 21-year-old, now on a season-long loan at Turkey’s Fenerbahce, would instead join Al Nassr of the Saudi Pro League side for €77m (£67.9m/$88.8m at the current rate). There was a further setback for Potter when an initial offer to sign USMNT international forward Ricardo Pepi in a loan deal including an obligation to buy, worth in the region of £21m, got turned down by PSV of the Netherlands.
Andre Silva of RB Leipzig was considered before Evan Ferguson’s eventual loan arrival from Brighton & Hove Albion on deadline day in early February. The Republic of Ireland striker’s name was low on West Ham’s list of attacking targets and his four-month stay proved underwhelming — he failed to score in eight appearances, all but one of them as a substitute.
In an ideal world for those in the away section of the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, 19-year-old Kroupi would be lining up against Bournemouth, not for them. It would be visitors West Ham showcasing a burgeoning talent and earning praise for unearthing a gem.
West Ham sources, who asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships, say their recruitment team were drawn to Kroupi’s pace and the variety of his goals. Between August 2024 and late January, he scored eight times in the league in 16 appearances. After the deal with Bournemouth was done, he added 13 more in the season’s final 13 Ligue 2 matches, with a curling long-range strike against Troyes in February being one of many standout moments.
𝙎𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙚́ 𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙧 𝙆𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙞 🫡⚽️ pic.twitter.com/pq65N7XxOp
— FC LORIENT 🐟 (@FCLorient) February 17, 2025
Since making his top-flight debut as a substitute against champions Liverpool at Anfield on the new season’s opening night in August, Kroupi has four goals in eight league games, three of which came last month.
The France Under-21 international had to wait patiently for his opportunity, having initially been backup to first-choice striker Evanilson. Kroupi played a combined total of just 21 minutes across the first seven league games against Liverpool, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton, Newcastle United, Leeds United, where he scored his first goal, and Fulham.
But when the Brazilian sustained a calf injury in October, Kroupi seized his chance, scoring twice in his first Premier League start away to Crystal Palace. A superb goal in the following match, a 2-0 home win against Nottingham Forest, led to huge praise.
“It’s his way of playing, he’s a great finisher,” Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola told the local Daily Echo newspaper. “I think if he smells the chance of finishing, right foot, left foot, close, far, whatever, he will take it. I think it’s his strength, and I’m happy for him. It’s very good that he’s adding goals to his game. We are demanding a lot (of him) in other different areas, and we will try to push him to get better. But obviously very, very pleased.”
This weekend, Kroupi will aim to continue that form against his January suitors.
While the teenager continues to enhance his reputation, West Ham will again lean on the venerable Callum Wilson, 33. The former England international, who joined as a free agent this summer after his Newcastle contract expired, has two goals in eight league appearances this season.
Kroupi celebrating a goal for Lorient (Loic Venance/AFP via Getty Images)
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo’s true forward options this season are Wilson, Fullkrug and academy graduate Callum Marshall, a 20-year-old who made his Premier League debut in the 2-0 loss to Arsenal last month, then made another substitute appearance in the defeat against Brentford by the same score two weeks later.
Almost a year on from that failed pursuit of Kroupi, West Ham remain in the market for a forward, with Fullkrug, currently sidelined with a thigh injury, expected to end his one-and-a-half-year spell at the London Stadium when the transfer window reopens in January.
Kroupi would have been a parting gift from Potter to Nuno. The youngster, who can play on the left, as a No 10 and as a lone striker, has spearheaded Bournemouth’s attack in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Nuno initially entrusted Fullkrug to play up front, but experimented with playing captain Jarrod Bowen and fellow midfielder Lucas Paqueta as forwards in back-to-back losses to Brentford and Leeds (2-1). It did not have the desired effect.
Nuno favoured a 4-1-4-1 system in the 3-1 home win against Newcastle United, while a 4-3-3 when Burnley visited in the final match before this international break led to a 3-2 victory.
Wilson was given the chance to start both those matches, and Nuno does know how to get the best out of ageing forwards, with Forest’s 33-year-old Chris Wood a case in point, having ended last season as the joint-fourth highest scorer in the Premier League with 20 goals. Kroupi, however, would have represented West Ham’s long-term future and added youthful exuberance to what is now Nuno’s side.
The former Wolves and Forest manager was reticent about discussing the upcoming winter transfer window in Thursday’s pre-match press conference, but he and the club would be remiss not to identify a forward in the forthcoming months with similar characteristics to Bournemouth’s new star.