Tottenham Hotspur have been focusing intently on stealing away Bryan Mbeumo from Manchester United, as one of the hottest transfer prospects on the market in the Premier League has an opening to join Spurs after the appointment of his former manager at Brentford, Thomas Frank.
The Danish coach is the entire reason why Tottenham have some level of optimism that they can sign Mbeumo despite the fact that the 25-year-old with 27 Premier League goal contributions last season initially made it clear that Manchester United was his favored landing spot.
Although Tottenham do indeed have every chance at landing the uber-talented Mbeumo on their right wing as a key supplier of goals and overall attacking threat, they know they can't lock into him as their only transfer target at the position since Manchester United had such an early advantage over them.
In case Tottenham were to strike out on Mbeumo, Give Me Sport's Ben Jacobs said on the Last Word on Spurs podcast that Bournemouth star right winger Antoine Semenyo would then become the top choice for Tottenham.
Tottenham's backup plan won't actually be cheaper
Given Semenyo and Mbeumo have both been linked to Tottenham long before Ange Postecoglou was fired, this assertion that Semenyo is the top alternative to Mbeumo isn't surprising at all. These two young men were the biggest breakout stars in the Premier League at the right wing position, and while Mbeumo is better overall with significantly more end product, Semenyo's electric dribbling and success with Bournemouth last season have to be recognized.
Like Mbeumo, Semenyo won't come cheap, as he is also expected to cost any interested party somewhere around 70 million pounds. Bournemouth will surely have to accept less than that initial evaluation, but after getting 65 million pounds for striker Dominic Solanke out of Spurs last season, Tottenham can't expect much of a discount on Semenyo in 2025 either.
Last season Semenyo, who is the same age as Mbeumo at 25, scored 11 Premier League goals for Bournemouth with 5 assists, averaging 1.9 dribbles completed per game. Those are good numbers in the Premier League for a right winger, but they are almost half the production that Mbeumo provided to Brentford, and while Semenyo did win a significant amount of dribbles, it's hard to say that he's a more effective dribbler than Mbeumo despite being more explosive; Mbeumo's consistency and strength set him apart.
Semenyo should have a buyer beware tag, but he is indeed a legitimate alternative to Mbeumo for Tottenham, and it's difficult to find many better right wing options than Semenyo should Frank fail to secure his top choice on the market.