Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo celebrates after his last match for the Cherries.
Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo celebrates after his last match for the Cherries.
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Today at 12:06
Manchester City’s overall package to land Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo will see them pay more than his £60m up-front release clause.
Semenyo, 26, made his farewell appearance at the Vitality Stadium on Wednesday with a stoppage-time winner against Tottenham, and he is now due in Manchester for the medical and formalities of a move to the Etihad Stadium.
The buyout fee in Semenyo’s contract is worth an initial £60m with £5m in bonuses. However, it has emerged that City’s package will see them £62.5m over the next two years. The add-ons in the deal are worth £1.5m and there is also a sell-on clause which would see Bournemouth receive 10 per cent of the profits if Semenyo is sold in the future.
It will be Bournemouth’s record sale, surpassing the £55m Tottenham paid for Dominic Solanke at the start of last season.
Should the move go through, it will give Pep Guardiola’s team a lift heading into the second half of the season, with the City manager bemoaning their failure to finish chances following a 1-1 draw with Brighton on Wednesday night.
“I like a lot the way we play, many new players and many new things, but we don’t score goals,” said Guardiola. “Too many clear chances and all the people up front, unfortunately we could not score.”
While Semenyo reached double-figures for goals this season with his strike against Spurs, Guardiola confirmed City will be without Savinho for up to two months due to injury.
Bournemouth feel they have had an extra half a season out of Semenyo, who signed a new contract in the summer with the release clause included. There was an agreement for him to play in his final three matches − against Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs − before leaving. In those matches, Andoni Iraola’s team picked up four points.