Focus

Bakayoko: Eli Junior Kroupi 'reminds me of Kylian Mbappé'

Bakayoko: Eli Junior Kroupi 'reminds me of Kylian Mbappé'

Focus
Publish on 10/11 at 11:01 - S. WILLIS

Share

Lorient's teenage sensation Eli Junior Kroupi - with three goals and two assists from four starts - added his name to an exclusive list of the world's most precocious players with a brace at Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday (3-3). The young gun is going form strength to strength in the League of Talents, as teammate Tiémoué Bakayoko confirmed!

Eli Junior Kroupi is still making waves! The youngest goalscorer in Ligue 1 Uber Eats this season, the youngest-ever goalscorer for FC Lorient in Ligue 1 Uber Eats and now the third youngest player to score a Ligue 1 Uber Eats double since 1947-48: the 17-year-old striker has been in the spotlight ever since the start of the season. Playing up front in Régis Le Bris's three-man forward line, the son of Elie Kroupi scored twice for Lyon at Groupama Stadium on Sunday.

Oh it's just five goal involvements in four starts...

With this precocious double - at just 17 years and 105 days old - the son of former professional footballer Elie Kroupi became the third-youngest player to achieve such a feat in the top flight, behind former France international Bernard Zénier (17 years and 23 days), in September 1974, and Michel Margottin, in April 1961 (16 years and 328 days).

The Lorient young gun now has three goals in four starts this season - not to mention two assists in 334 minutes played.

"He's a phenomenon. He reminds me a little of Kylian Mbappé in terms of the maturity of his game," said team-mate Tiémoué Bakayoko after the match on Sunday. "He already has good stats for a youngster his age."

The youngest players to score twice in a Ligue 1 Uber Eats match since 1947-48:
1. Michel Margottin (Lens): 16 years and 328 days (23/04/1961, against Le Havre)
2. Bernard Zénier (Metz): 17 years and 23 days (13/09/1974, against Nantes)
3. Eli Junior Kroupi (FC Lorient): 17 years and 107 days (08/10/2023, against Lyon)
4. Antoine Bonifaci (Nice): 17 years and 204 days (27/03/1949, against Rennes)
5. Lionel Justier (Paris Saint-Germain): 17 years and 212 days (30/03/1976, against Nîmes)
6. Corentin Jean (Troyes): 17 years and 237 days (09/03/2013, against Reims)
7. Maryan Wisniewski (Lens): 17 years and 241 days (30/09/1954, against Metz)
8. Tanguy Nianzou (Paris Saint-Germain): 17 years and 253 days (on 15/02/2020, against Amiens)
9. Thierry Henry (Monaco): 17 years and 255 days (29/04/1995, against Lens)

>> Meet Eli Junior Kroupi: Lorient’s new star boy

Top videos