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'Always hungry, always brave' - why Man City want 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?
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.
With Semenyo having contributed to 11 of Bournemouth's 26 goals this season, Andoni Iraola would love to keep him – especially with the Cherries on a seven-match winless league run stretching back to October, which has seen them fall to 15th in the table.
Despite this poor form, there remains a positive feeling around Bournemouth. Points-wise, they are closer to the top four than the bottom three.
Iraola is regarded as one of the most tactically astute managers in the Premier League, who has got the best out of Semenyo to the point that almost every English giant wants to sign him.
Add in new training facilities at Bournemouth and the promise of a new ground, and there is more for the Cherries to offer.
Former Bournemouth striker Sam Vokes told BBC Solent: "I don't know why you'd want to leave that setup. I understand when so-called 'bigger' clubs come knocking, it's hard sometimes.
"But with the way he's performing and the way that Bournemouth have been doing - it looks like he's enjoying his football.
I don't know why he'd want to do that anywhere else at the moment.
Bournemouth have only lost two games in which Semenyo has scored since his debut in 2023.
No wonder team-mate Justin Kluivert said earlier this season: "He is incredible. He shows it every game now. He is just world class."
Manchester City spent vast sums last January because of an injury crisis and look set to add big-money signing Semenyo this time around in very different circumstances.
City are chasing Arsenal in the Premier League title race, one of four fronts both teams are competing in, and boss Pep Guardiola has decided to strengthen the right-hand side of his attack.
The Ghanaian offers pace and direct running from that flank, and it will be of great satisfaction to Guardiola that he chose City over the other options he had.
But one in means one may now leave, with Savinho or Oscar Bobb being possibly moved on to accommodate him.
Tottenham held talks for the Brazilian in the summer but could not agree a fee, so could they test the waters again when the transfer window opens next month?
Semenyo's profile is a unique one and at the reported price point, it feels like a no-brainer.
Stylistically we have seen City lean into attacking in transition with more pace this season than previously under Guardiola, who has played on the strengths of Haaland, Foden, Tijjani Reijnders and Doku - attacking quickly over big distances.
As a result, City have scored from more fast breaks this season than during the entire 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons combined.
Bournemouth's direct style of attack means Semenyo's pace, good hold-up play, smart decision-making and two-footed ball-striking are more easily transferred to this City side.
These are dangerous traits, especially when going long against teams that attempt to press high up the pitch.
Guardiola likes versatile players too, given they provide solutions to injury crises.
With Doku out injured, Reijnders has come in and shifted Foden out to the left. Semenyo would provide Premier League proven quality on both wings.
"The years we were successful, not just the strikers [were scoring], especially the wingers, attacking midfielders. We need that," said Guardiola earlier this month.
City's over-reliance on Haaland's 19 goals will be something he wants to address. Foden has scored the second most with seven but has been moved away from the number 10 position, where he scores often from distance.
The signing of Semenyo would help get Foden back in the areas Guardiola feels he is most dangerous.
Semenyo has the added benefit of providing goals himself while starting as a winger. With eight in the league this season, only Igor Thiago and Haaland have more.
If City want to overtake Arsenal and win the league, getting scorers behind Haaland would be a smart move.
Source: BBC
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