Pep Guardiola made ten changes for Tuesday night's Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen, Nico González the only man to keep his place and, well, this certainly did not pay off.
Manchester City were beaten in a home group stage tie for the first time since defeat to Olympique Lyonnais in September 2018, with Leverkusen leaving the Etihad comfortable 2-0 winners.
Nico O'Reilly, Jérémy Doku and Phil Foden were all introduced at half time, with Rayan Cherki and Erling Braut Håland thrown on soon after, but they still rarely threatened die Werkself's goal.
Thus, the Sky Blues' top eight spot in the Champions League is now somewhat under threat, traveling to Real Madrid in a fortnight, before rounding out the league phase against Bodø/Glimt in the Arctic Circle and then Galatasaray at home in late January.
Haaland goal record (timeless)
After the match, Guardiola bemoaned his lack of squad depth, so could it spark him to go into the January transfer market, potentially set to make a move to sign the "best winger in the country"?
Manchester City targeting attacking reinforcements
In January this year, Manchester City splashed around £180m, recruiting Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Juma Bah, the aforementioned Nico González and Omar Marmoush, thereby spending more than the other 19 Premier League clubs combined.
Nico-gonzalez-manchester-city
Well, according to reports in Spain, similar heavy investment is forecast this winter, with the Citizens having made Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo a 'priority target'.
They add that Man City are among those 'considering' making a January move for the Ghanaian attacker, alongside Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham and others.
Well, earlier this month, it was reported that Semenyo's contract contains a £65m release clause that becomes active on 1 January, meaning the winger could have his pick of clubs, and Bournemouth would be powerless to prevent him departing.
Antoine Semenyo scores for Bournemouth
So, could the 25-year-old soon swap Dorset for East Manchester?
How Antoine Semenyo would improve Manchester City
So far this season, former England international Chris Waddle has asserted that Semenyo is the "best winger in the country", while Anantaajith Raghuraman of The Athletic took it a step further, arguing that he is 'the best player in the Premier League right now'.
These are certainly not outrageous claims, considering the Ghanaian international has scored six goals and registered three assists already in this campaign.
More broadly, the Bournemouth attacker has been one of the stars across the whole league so far, as the table below highlights.
Semenyo's PL stats 2025/26
Stats
Goals
Assists
Shot on target %
Non-pen goals - xG
Big chances missed
Goal-creating actions
Attempted take-ons
Successful dribbles
Average rating
*minimum 10 shots on target.
Stats via FBrefand SofaScore
As the table documents, Semenyo has been one of the most outstanding players in the Premier League this season.
Only Håland, Igor Thiago and Danny Welbeck have scored more goals while, of all players who've mustered ten or more shots on target, Håland is the only one to boast a higher shots on target percentage, underlining his newfound clinical nature.
AFC Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo in action with Manchester City's Matheus Nunes
Lifting some of the burden on Håland would be a key benefit of signing Semenyo in January.
In the league thus far, the Norwegian already has 14 goals to his name, but the only other player to have netted more than once for the Citizens is Maxime Estève, who scored two own goals when Burnley visited the Etihad in September.
Players such as Foden, Cherki, Doku, Savinho and others have shown glimpses of brilliance, but nothing on a consistent basis on par with what Semenyo has been producing by the South Coast.
Thus, alongside Håland, he could form an unstoppable partnership that could bring the glory days back to the Etihad, as they seek to chase down Premier League leaders Arsenal once again.
Man-City-Leverkusen-UCL Related
[4/10 Man City duo who "offer nothing" must now never start together again](https://www.footballfancast.com/man-city-duo-bobb-and-savinho-must-not-start-together-again/ "4/10 Man City duo who "offer nothing" must now never start together again")
This pair struggled in Man City's 2-0 home loss to Leverkusen