Tottenham Hotspur have some of the finest young talent in the country in their ranks. Truthfully they always have.
From a young Harry Kane breaking through to Dele Alli performing a madness in his early 20s and Gareth Bale becoming a world beater, things have changed big time since then as far as performances on the pitch go.
Still, there is great hope for the future. In Archie Gray, Mateus Fernandes and Lucas Bergvall, they have three incredibly young footballers who are just waiting to explode in the senor game.
Perhaps the hottest commodity is Luka Vuskovic, although he now looks likely to head to Brighton. It’s sad end to a story where he never actually featued once for the Tottenham first team in a competitive game.
All that said, none of them are as exciting as Eli Junior Kroupi. Spurs are well and truly in the race to seal his signature. It would arguably be their finest coup of the whole window.
Why Spurs want to sign Kroupi
Why do Spurs want to sign Kroupi? Well, you’d be mad as a club to not be interested in this exceptional young French talent.
Celebrated as the “next Mbappe” by GOAL before he’d become a household name, it is safe to say that the forward is beginning to live up to that billing in the Premier League.
A year ago, the teenager swapped Lorient in Ligue 2 for Bournemouth in the English top-flight and he has not looked back.
Kroupi cost the Cherries just £12m and if he leaves this summer, they could bank a remarkable profit. Amid interest from Spurs, it’s thought he could leave the south coast in a whopping £90m deal. Understandably, Marco Rose and Co do not want to sell.
That’s totally reasonable. He’s one of the finest young players in Europe right now. Last term, at the age of 19, he became the first teenager to ever score 13 goals in their debut Premier League season. No one as young as he has ever done that before.
He’s mightily efficient in front of goal. Only four other strikers had a better conversion rate in the whole league.
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Best conversion rates – Premier League 25/26 |
|
|---|---|
|
Player |
Conversion rate |
|
1) Will Osula |
30.4% |
|
2) Noah Okafor |
22.9% |
|
3) Danny Welbeck |
22.6% |
|
4) Nick Woltemade |
22.6% |
|
5) Eli Junior Kroupi |
22.0% |
Full of pace, clinical and versatile, he’s an attacker with the ability to become one of the best in the world in the forthcoming years. After all, in the words of Daniel Sturridge, he is already “one of the best finishers in the Premier League”. The stats support that statement perfectly.
If Roberto De Zerbi seals a deal for the budding French striker, will they sign another forward? It looks likely.
The signing Spurs could make to complement Kroupi
The Lilywhites have performed something of a miracle to improve their midfield, beating off competition from some of Europe’s elite clubs to sign both Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali for a combined £185m.
Next up is bolstering the forward line. Kroupi has been earmarked but he’s not the only one. Spurs area also exploring moves for AC Milan winger Rafael Leao and for Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo.
They also continue to look at a move for Manchester City’s Savinho. Speaking on his YouTube channel this week, Fabrizio Romano said: “Tottenham remain very interested in Savinho. It’s a name I told you about a long time ago, months ago. Tottenham keep working on the Savinho deal and waiting on Manchester City to make a decision. Do they want to let him go or not? Conversations are ongoing and Savinho is the next big name on the list.”
In all honesty, on paper, this isn’t a move that inspires huge excitement. He only scored three times for City last term and started just seven Premier League matches.
Alas, not every player should be judged on limited minutes. That’s because when he did play regular football during 2024/25, he was one of the most promising wide players in Europe.
For any striker, let alone Kroupi, Savinho is the dream. He’s not much of a goalscoring wide player, instead focusing most of his efforts on creating goalscoring opportunities for his teammtes.
During his debut campaign in England, the 22-year-old registered 13 assists in all competitions. He ended the term as City’s top creator. Not even the great Kevin De Bruyne amassed more assists.
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When it came to key passes per 90 minutes, Savinho made 1.6. In that regard, only De Bruyne with 2.1 produced more every 90. That sort of output would be music to the ears of Kroupi or whoever Spurs’ striker is.
A key pass is a pass that directly leads to a shot at the opponent’s goal.
The Brazilian is also one of the most progressive wingers around. Last season, he ranked in the top 1% of positionally similar players in Europe for progressive carries per 90 with 7.45 and in the best 3% for overall progressive actions, producing a whopping 9.76.
To have a winger as spiretely and as creative as that on the flanks would be a huge boon for De Zerbi. Sure, Savinho may not be a prolific goalscorer but he’s certainly a prolific creator of chances. He’d complement another potential addition in Kroupi perfectly.
