Red-hot teen 'ready to suffer'

Bournemouth starlet Eli Junior Kroupi may have already put a difficult start to Premier League life behind him, but the 19-year-old said he knows that he will have to "work hard" to make a success of his time in England.

The Brittany-born, childhood Liverpool fan made his Bournemouth debut on a season-opening trip to Anfield for a clash with the champion in August.

"I was like a kid living in a dream," Kroupi said. "It was really wonderful for me, and for my parents, too."

He played just one minute as a substitute.

After manager Andoni Iraola gave the teenager a paltry 11 minutes in total over the next four league matches, Kroupi said that he "even thought about leaving".

A conversation with his father — ex-Cote d'Ivoire international Eli Kroupi — convinced the teenager to dig in to realize his dream.

"Running away from a problem wasn't the right solution," he said. "My father encouraged me to stay and work twice as hard."

Within a month, the forward had scored four goals in three matches against Leeds, FA Cup winner Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.

"I managed to turn things around," he said.