Black Stars forward, Antoine Semenyo
Every transfer window, there is a player whose future becomes the defining saga of the month. This January, it looks set to be Antoine Semenyo.
Manchester City are in advanced talks to sign the 25-year-old Bournemouth forward, who has a £65m release clause which expires on 10 January.
BBC Sport understands four other Premier League clubs – Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea – have made enquiries.
It marks the latest step in a rapid rise for London-born Semenyo, who represents Ghana internationally through his father’s heritage.
He was rejected by Arsenal, Spurs and Millwall as a youngster before ending up in a West Country academy run by former Leeds and Forest Green manager Dave Hockaday.
Bristol City signed him in 2017, but he needed loan spells at Bath, Newport and Sunderland before breaking into the Robins’ first team in 2020-21.
In January 2023, he made a £10m move to Bournemouth – and he has been improving ever since.
But why Manchester City, and why now? And do the Cherries have any chance of persuading him to stay?
Why do Manchester City want Semenyo?
What it says about the state of the transfer market aside, £65m is a cut price fee for a Premier League winger approaching the prime of his career.
So, it is no surprise that Pep Guardiola and Manchester City are pushing hard for Semenyo now – even if his stats suggest he wouldn’t be a huge improvement on the wide options they already have.
Semenyo has created fewer chances per 90 minutes this season than Rayan Cherki or Jeremy Doku, and his dribble success rate is only better than Savinho among the dedicated wing men in the City senior squad.
But his product catches the eye, with a better goal and assist per game rate than Doku, Savinho, Phil Foden and Omar Marmoush – he has scored four goals and assisted two directly following a carry, the joint most of any Premier League player since the beginning of April.
Plus, his style of play would offer a new dimension to City as they aim to catch Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Consummately two-footed, only Mohamed Salah and Cole Palmer attempted more shots than Semenyo, while his total of 69 successful dribbles is the third-highest total in the top flight.
“He can drive forward with the ball vertically, rather than Doku who comes in and out,” former England goalkeeper Rob Green told BBC 5 Live.
“He can do that something different Pep is looking for. Short term they have their own injury problems, with Oscar Bobb out, Doku out, Marmoush away [at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) with Egypt], so he can help short term and long term.
“It does raise the question what future someone like Savinho has though.”
The Afcon issue is no problem for Semenyo, with Ghana having surprisingly failed to qualify.
And Guardiola was already confirmed as a fan of him earlier this season, before the transfer talk intensified.
“He’s an extraordinary, extraordinary, extraordinary player,” the Spaniard insisted.
“His energy, his confidence, his movement – unbelievable. He doesn’t stop running, he attacks space so well, and when he has the ball, you feel something will happen.
“He’s improving every game. Players like him make this league special – always hungry, always brave.”
Semenyo’s output backs up the bombast. Since the start of April, he has been directly involved in 16 Premier League goals, third only to City striker Erling Haaland and Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers.
He has scored 12 league goals during this period, second only to Haaland, while he has overperformed his expected goals tally more than any player other than West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen.
Semenyo has been directly involved in 20 Premier League goals in 2025, with 14 goals and six assists – making him only the second Ghana international to do so, after Tony Yeboah at Leeds in 1995.
If he is involved with one more against either Brentford on 27 December or Chelsea three days later, his tally will surpass Dominic Solanke’s club record for goal involvements in a calendar year.
“He’s a brilliant, brilliant player,” former Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given told BBC Match of the Day. “At 25, he is in the peak of his career as well.”
