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French talent Kroupi ready to suffer to realise EPL dream
Gulf Today
|December 03, 2025
Bournemouth starlet Eli Junior Kroupi may have already put a difficult start to Premier League life behind him, but the 19-year-old told AFP he knows that he will have to “work hard” to make a success of his time in England.
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The Brittany-born, childhood Liverpool fan made his Bournemouth debut on a season-opening trip to Anfield for a clash with the champions in August.
“I was like a kid living in a dream,” Kroupi said. “It was really wonderful for me, and for my parents too.”
He played just one minute as a substitute. After manager Andoni Iraola gave the teenager a paltry 11 minutes in total over the next four league matches, Kroupi said that he “even thought about leaving”.
A conversation with his father -- ex-Ivory Coast international Eli Kroupi -- convinced the teenager to dig in to realise his dream.
This story is from the December 03, 2025 edition of Gulf Today.
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