The international break is just about over and for Marco Rose's AFC Bournemouth, they'll be looking to get back to their unbeaten run this weekend when they take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge this weekend.
The Cherries had gone five matches unbeaten after starting their season with the 2-1 loss to Manchester City, but suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at the Vitality stadium just before the international break in what was Andoni Iraola's homecoming.
For Bournemouth, they've been without striker Eli Junior Kroupi for the start of the season as the Frenchman has been recovering from a foot injury sustained during July of pre-season. While Rose has been relying largely on Evanilson and Álvaro Rodríguez to lead the line, he's certainly been missing out on a player who bagged 13 goals from 35 appearances across all competitions last season
An Expected Return This Month
L'Equipe (via GetFootballNewsFrance) reports that Kroupi could be making a return to action for Bournemouth later this month. More specifically, the striker is targeting a return to the squad for the last match of this month, which is a trip to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United.
Michael Carrick's side are in desperate need of points in the league and both league meetings between the two sides last season produced a bevy of goals; a 4-4 draw in December followed by a 2-2 draw in March. Kroupi scored in both of those draws last season, ironically enough.
While the timeline could possibly change as far as when the Frenchman is going to back in Rose's squad, he has already resumed various drills on the pitch and small-sided matches during sessions while some of his teammates are away on international duty.
Even still, the club doesn't want to take an unnecessary risks with rushing him back too soon after a lengthy injury layover, especially as the club competes across the Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup, and Europa League.
Praise From The Manager
Junior Kroupi was recently nominated for the Ballon d'Or ceremony's Young Talent of The Year Award, an achievement for which Rose had plenty of praise for.
Rose told club media: "We are happy for him. We are happy for the club. Everyone is proud of him, he deserved it. He's a young guy, talented guy, we are happy to have him here - to support him to get back on the pitch. Right now, he's still injured."
"We are waiting for him. We need his 13 goals or 20 goals this season as well in all competitions we are still in. We just support him and, as I said, just quite happy to have him here and about his nomination."
Kroupi is one of 10 nominees for the Ballon d'Or Young Talent of the Year. He's competing with the likes of City new-boy Ayyoub Bouaddi and Spain's World Cup winning duo Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi.
