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With the new year approaching, attention turns to the final round of Premier League fixtures and the opening of the January transfer window. One of the biggest stories surrounds Antoine Semenyo, who is attracting interest from several Premier League clubs. Manchester City are currently leading the race and have opened discussions with Bournemouth over the payment structure of his £65m release clause.
James McConnell is expected to be recalled from his loan spell at Ajax, with several Championship clubs already lining up to take the midfielder for the second half of the season. McConnell last featured for Ajax at the beginning of November, making a brief cameo in the Champions League, and has since fallen out of favour under new head coach Fred Grim. Former Liverpool coach John Heitinga had primarily used the 21-year-old as an impact substitute earlier in the campaign, but with just 219 minutes of action across all competitions, a January recall appears to be in everyone’s interests.
Liverpool will then need to decide on the best pathway for the remainder of McConnell’s season. According to the Daily Mail, the midfielder has a number of suitors in the Championship, with West Bromwich Albion, Derby County, Oxford United and Swansea City all credited with interest. Swansea are now managed by Vitor Matos, a former member of Jurgen Klopp’s coaching staff at Anfield. Matos has overseen three wins from seven matches since taking charge at the end of November, though of the clubs mentioned, all but Derby currently sit in the bottom half of the Championship.
The priority, however, will be securing regular minutes. McConnell has not completed 90 minutes of senior football since April, when he featured for Liverpool’s Under-21s. Interest in the midfielder is not new. Over the summer, Austrian side Sturm Graz were among his admirers, alongside Championship clubs Ipswich Town, Hull City, Derby and Oxford United, while there was also interest from Germany.
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