Following on from Claret and Hugh’s earlier round up, it appears that negotiations this weekend are moving at a pace. With the window closing at 11pm tomorrow night it could be that there are some anxious nail biting moments inside London Stadium over one particular transfer which has come on leaps and bounds this weekend.
Yesterday’s article detailed the Hammers interest in Eli Junior Kroupi, the 18 year old sensation who has been scoring goals galore in the French ligue 2. Nine goals and two assists in 17 games has brought him to prominence and now West Ham have set a detailed purchase proposition down ahead of the window closing. The full details of the proposal have been published by Sky today.
According to skysports, :”It’s understood West Ham’s proposal includes an initial fee of £15m plus £10m if he reaches a certain number of games and another £10m if he scores a certain amount of goals.”
Which is a big commitment from West Ham for an 18 year old who is untried at the highest level and a huge step up from the negotiations over Daniel Cummings – likely to cost half a million pounds!
Thirty five million pounds in total (€40m) will be a huge chunk of cash for second tier Lorient but with just £15 million up front the deal significantly aids West Ham’s PSR and cash flow issues this January.
As far as his potential, breakingthelines.com last year told of an exciting prospect:
“Predominantly an attacking midfielder, this season has seen him play in a variety of positions, including attacking midfield, left wing, and as a central striker. Players like Eli Junior are highly desired in the modern game, especially as modern systems look for certain traits in their advanced midfielders – the ability to operate in the half-space, the ability to provide elite build-up play, a significant off-ball presence, and efficient ball-striking and shot conversion rate. Kroupi is slightly raw, but he has every trait listed in bundles. If he wants to move away from being an attacking midfielder and more so into a striker role, his skillset could easily translate.”
One to watch and in principle, more exciting than the Evan Ferguson deal with some far reaching consequences for seasons to come if the teenager fulfils half the expectation which is placed upon him.
This report from “Breaking the Lines” has similar content to Luis Guilherme.
Both look to be capable of good things.
If they manage to get him hope he gets more or a chance than they’ve given Guilherme.
Not going to happen
Just more sensationalism I’m afraid as 2 days, ago I read he has already agreed terms with another club and doesn’t want to join West ham anyway.
If he’s so sensational makes you wonder why he’s not playing in top tier of French football but I suppose we could have said the same of players like Bowen, Antonio etc in their time.
If he’s so sensational makes you wonder why he’s not playing in top tier of French football but I suppose we could have said the same of players like Bowen, Antonio etc in their time.
For the first time in as long as I can remember, really looking forward to the Summer window, as we have people in charge who know a player and apart from better quality, we hopefully get average squad age down to around 25 ! 👍⚒️
M B I do agree with what you say, if he was sensational, you would be talking of a fee £50m upwards.
However, with a coach like Potter, who has over the years, bought in raw talent and molded them into top players like Marc Cucurella, Enzo Fernández, Moisés Caicedo, Leandro Trossard, João Félix and many others if he deems it worthwhile getting emerging talented younger players, why should we fret over it. Top teams take time to develop into a sensational team and I am confident Potter will take West Ham to a new level over time.
Thanks for this. Makes far more sense than cash up front. Sounds promising.
What I have seen of him he is quick and very skilled. With Potter’s team overseeing him, there is every chance of him developing into a top players, as Bowen has. Same again as Cummings, no wonder Rodgers was absolutely fuming over this.
How lovely to see that the new coach setup is going more for emerging talented youth than over the hill players more at the end of their careers, like Füllkrug, Rodriguez and Ings!
I’m really looking forward to the summer when Potter will know exactly what he needs to do to improve the squad, plus he will have fully implemented his ideas and the way he wants the team to the squad.
Please don’t use words like sensation as he is not. 9 goals in 17 games in Ligue 2 is hardly setting the world on fire. I hate it when you see loads of articles across many sites describing players as sensations, wonder kids or unstoppable. If it was true they would be playing for Man City, Real Madrid, Barcelona etc