Liverpool and Man City are fighting to sign an in-form Premier League wingerplaceholder image
Liverpool and Man City are fighting to sign an in-form Premier League winger | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Liverpool and Manchester City are battling to sign one of the Premier League’s most in-form stars
Manchester City have joined English champions Liverpool in the race to sign one of the most coveted footballers in the Premier League ahead of what looks likely to be January’s most talked about transfer saga.
Bournemouth did well to keep Semenyo at the club amid a difficult summer which saw Milos Kerkez, Illia Zabarnyi, Dean Hujsen and Dango Outtara all depart.
Retaining Semenyo proved to be a masterstroke and his importance to Bournemouth quickly became apparent once when he scored a sublime brace against Liverpool in a six-goal-thriller on matchday one.
Antoine Semenyo could be available for just £65m
Telegraph Sport revealed earlier this month that Semenyo’s new contract with the Cherries includes a £65m release clause that becomes active for a set period of time in January, leaving Liverpool and a whole host of other top-flight clubs on red alert.
It’s reported by talkSPORT that the release clause lasts throughout the first half of January, giving Bournemouth ample time to buy a replacement if a deal does materialise.
Reporter Plettenberg posted on X: “Understand Liverpool are seriously working on Antoine Semenyo for the winter window, and concrete talks have already taken place. LFC are fully aware of his release clause of around €70 million. Liverpool want him, but there is heavy competition, with other top English sides involved. Bayern are currently not in the race. The 25 y/o versatile winger is under contract with Bournemouth until 2030.”
This seemingly left Liverpool in pole position to sign the talented winger. However, new information from talkSPORT suggests that it’s not quite a formality that the winger ends up at Anfield.
Man City hope to hijack dream Liverpool move
According to the aforementioned talkSPORT report, City boss Pep Guardiola is thought to be a huge admirer of Semenyo. He’s believed to be on the lookout for further attacking options to bolster his front line due to his team’s over-reliance on star striker Erling Haaland.
The Sky Blues have Jeremy Doku, Oscar Bobb, Rayan Cherki and Savinho as their wide attacking options, but have struggled to get goal from wide areas at quite the same rate they did when Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane among others were all at the club.
Guardiola described Semenyo as an ‘extraordinary player’ before his side faced off with Bournemouth last month, adding further fuel to talks of a possible transfer hijack on Liverpool. His side are trailing leaders Arsenal by seven points but remain in the title race in third position and have a history of working their way back to the summit from similar deficits.
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