The future Ballon d’Or winner Man Utd should pay big to sign now

Manchester United clearly can’t sign ready-made players who are the best in the world anymore, so future Ballon d’Or winners should be next on the agenda.

Much was made by Sir Jim Ratcliffe about wanting to buy superstars before they become superstars, but as with most other Ineos promises, that has turned out to be a dud.

Youngsters have been bought, but they haven’t been trusted, and the general upheaval at the club is not ideal for growth anyway.

However, one player forms the perfect marriage between being young, already proven, and having the ceiling of a potential future Ballon d’Or winner.

Man Utd must pay big for Eli Junior Kroupi

If a player is young then he’s not proven, and if he’s proven then he’s not young. If he’s both, then he hasn’t done it in the Premier League. If he has, then he already plays for an elite team.

Eli Junior Kroupi, however, ticks all those boxes and still remains attainable as he’s at Bournemouth.

Aged 20, he scored 13 goals in his first Premier League season, and his play merited even more, as he was electric on the ball and worked hard off it.

His versatility was a key asset for the Cherries, as he was played up top as well as on the left, from where he could cut inside and unleash shots with his stronger right foot.

At a time when United are struggling for LW options, excluding Marcus Rashford, Kroupi easily walks into the first XI, with the potential to do even more.

So impressive were his exploits last season that he was eighth in the Young Talent of the Year rankings at this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, while playing for a club as “unglamorous” as Bournemouth.

Kroupi’s contract runs until 2030, so prising him away from Bournemouth won’t be easy, as United have already seen with Alex Scott’s case.

Having said that, this is precisely the sort of intelligent ambition the club must show to close the gap to the elites, without competing directly against them in the market.

For all his qualities, Kroupi is still not on the radar of the big guns, but that will change soon with another season just like the last one.

An ambitious club gets in touch with his entourage already, and discusses the parameters of the deal with Bournemouth while being open to paying big.

A young player who’s already proven and attainable doesn’t come around often. This Ballon d’Or ceremony should prove to United that he’s worth big money.