How AFC Bournemouth’s Ownership Model Left West Ham Fans Fuming

One of the least talked about stories during the January transfer window, was the saga surrounding three clubs: AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, and Ligue 2 side FC Lorient. Now the transfer window has ended, some West Ham fans are calling for some sort of ruling on Multi-club structures, as they feel as if they have lost out because of Bournemouth’s.

West Ham’s Bid

The saga revolves around a teenager, 18 year old striker Eli Junior Kroupi of Lorient. He is the best talent currently in the French second tier, having scored 10 goals and provided two assists in the league this season, and so West Ham decided to approach the Ligue 2 leaders with an offer for the Frenchman.

Understand West Ham have made an offer worth up to £30m for highly-rated Lorient forward Eli Junior Kroupi. Kroupi is a target for a number of Europe’s top clubs after impressing at Lorient. Landing Kroupi would be a major coup for West Ham and Graham Potter. #WHUFC #Lorient pic.twitter.com/pYGZkAQJOL

— Pete O'Rourke (@SportsPeteO) January 31, 2025

Hammers fans would have you believe that the offer was irrefusable, but the Lorient board decided not to entertain the bid. In simple terms, reports suggest that West Ham offered £30m, but these have not been confirmed. Where the deal came unstuck was around agent fees and the structure of payment, that was mostly going to be paid at a later time, rather than upfront. These are all speculation from West Ham fans trying to justify a club in the second tier of French football rejecting a record breaking bid for their youngster.

Bournemouth Swoop In

Where the saga really gets interesting is when Bourenmouth made an approach on deadline day. By this time, West Ham had stopped pursuing the striker, so Bournemouth were uncontested in their interest. They offered Lorient around £15m for the striker, with the intention that he would return to Lorient on loan for the rest of the season to help them return to Ligue 1.

Lorient accepted the deal, which was half of what was rumoured that West Ham had offered, but why would they do this? Bournemouth’s owner, Bill Foley, has a minority stake in the French club, and has already done business with them before, signing both Romain Faivre and Dango Ouatarra from them. On the surface, the deal seems dodgy, but this is all speculation, as both Bournemouth and West Ham conducted their deals in private.

We are delighted to confirm the permanent signing of FC Lorient attacker Eli Junior Kroupi 🙌

The 18-year-old French youth international will remain with the Ligue 2 club for the rest of the 2024/25 season on loan 🤝 pic.twitter.com/ypQs7mRSh4

— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) February 3, 2025

Realistically, West Ham cannot have a lot of money to spend left, having splashed out in the summer, so it is likely that they offered a lot less than £30m, and meanwhile, £15m seems like quite a sensible price for an unproven 18 year old striker in the French second tier. Ultimately, West Ham might complain about unfairness, but Bournemouth are only doing what many other clubs have done in recent years. I mean just look at Manchester City and Savinho.