Cherries’ selling season is open - Barca’s replacement for Lewa is at Bournemouth

One of the best European transfer “deal-makers” in recent years is once again rubbing his hands in satisfaction. Bournemouth have been selling players to Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, and Tottenham, and in just the last two transfer windows (last summer and this winter) they have already earned €310,000,000 from player sales. But significant profit is expected in the future as well—possibly within just a few months.

Eli Kroupi is the player who exploded as a Premier League debutant. The teenager scored 12 goals in 31 appearances, despite playing only 1,500 minutes, and is seen as the new “golden goose” at the Vitality Stadium.

According to reports from the Catalan Sport and French Footmercato, Barcelona could soon make a move for the French international. Robert Lewandowski is leaving Camp Nou, creating a major gap in the striker position, and despite strong interest in Julian Alvarez, signing the Argentine appears unrealistic due to a variety of factors.

The teenager arrived at Bournemouth this summer from Lorient for €13,000,000, and his value has increased several times over. The Cherries will certainly not let him go for less than €40,000,000, and will likely aim for a fee of around €50,000,000. And it’s easy to see why—Kroupi has shown tremendous versatility in attack and proven himself to be a complete striker with a wide range of skills.

He recently joined Robbie Fowler and Robbie Keane as the only teenagers to score 12 goals in a Premier League season. Sport claims Kroupi has never hidden his admiration for Barcelona, and that signing the 19-year-old would not be considered a major risk, given the potential he has already demonstrated to become a top-level footballer.

It is also speculated that he could make Didier Deschamps’ World Cup squad and fill the gap left by the injury to Hugo Ekitike.

Barcelona has not yet made a concrete move, but it appears that interest from major European clubs is growing rapidly for the young player who has come through all the French youth national teams.