Former Premier League strikers Darren Bent and Charlie Austin believe Liverpool should make a move for Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo
BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 26: Antoine Semenyo of AFC Bournemouth reacts during the Premier League match between Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest at Vitality Stadium on October 26, 2025 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Antoine Semenyo has been in fantastic form for Bournemouth this season
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Liverpool have been told they can sign their long-term replacement for the legendary Mohamed Salah in the January transfer window. And if they do, they will be getting as player as "unstoppable" as Gareth Bale once was.
That's the opinion of former England striker Darren Bent, who believes Liverpool should make a bid for the in-form Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo.
The Ghana international has been one of the players of the Premier League season so far, scoring six goals in 11 appearances and also racking up three assists. That has led to speculation that the Reds, along with Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, are interested in signing him.
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And the speculation is only going to ramp up further after The Athletic reported this week that Semenyo can be bought for £65m during the January transfer window due to a release clause inserted into the new Cherries contract he penned in July.
And Bent, who scored one of the most bizarre goals in Premier League history for Sunderland against Liverpool in October 2009 when his shot went in off a beach ball that had been thrown on to the pitch, reckons it is a move that the defending champions simply have to make.
The pundit said of Semenyo on talkSPORT: "He has exploded out of the traps this season and he just looks really comfortable in himself.
"Every game you see him do something and you go: 'Oh my goodness'. He's one of those rare players - and I call players like this unstoppable. Gareth Bale was like that. When I talk about unstoppable, I'm talking about their attributes.
"When Bale started to move, you just couldn't stop him, and Semenyo is the same.
"Once he gets going, he's going past people, and he's gliding. What's good about him is that he can go both ways. I think he's got the full package.
"For so long now, Liverpool have been able to depend on Salah on that right-hand side, season upon season, and don't get me wrong, he's been one of the best players we've ever seen in this country.
"But the signs are that he potentially maybe is slowing down a fraction. Now, all of a sudden, you have to start addressing both sides."
Semenyo scored twice on the opening night of the campaign at Anfield as Bournemouth went down 4-2 to the Reds, whose scoring was completed by Salah in injury-time.
That is only one of four goals scored by the Egyptian in the Premier League so far this season, which by his own exceptionally high standards, is below par.
But before the 3-0 loss at Manchester City before the international break, Salah did find the net in back-to-back top flight games and he will be looking to add to his tally when Liverpool return to action on Saturday at home to Nottingham Forest (3pm).
Meanwhile, another pundit has talked up Semenyo's talent, believing his reported release clause to be "cheap".
Former Southampton striker Charlie Austin, a Liverpool fan who played alongside their captain Virgil van Dijk at St Mary's, told Sky Sports News: "It sounds mad saying it, but going on the market and how everything is, absolutely it is - it is cheap.
“You can go back to the goal that he scored that opening Premier League night against Liverpool and the performance he put in.
"He gave (Milos) Kerkez a real big problem, scored the goal - it was a fantastic, fantastic performance by him that night, and then he’s continued that form all the way through the start of the season.
"Look, I think £65m is a snip to get him. And the biggest thing is, he’s only young, he's progressing. The way he's performing week in, week out for them, he has made himself Bournemouth's talisman."