Antoine Semenyo has just swapped AFC Bournemouth for Manchester City, in a deal that is worth about £65m. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)placeholder image
Antoine Semenyo has just swapped AFC Bournemouth for Manchester City, in a deal that is worth about £65m. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Antoine Semenyo has today been unveiled as a new Manchester City player, after completing a mega £65million transfer to Pep Guardiola's side.
The move comes after some scintillating performances for Bournemouth in the top flight. After being courted by many of the Premier League's top sides, Semenyo has eventually settled on a move to the blue half of Manchester.
But if we wind the clock back six years, it could have been the red-and-white stripes of Doncaster Rovers that Semenyo was playing in. Back in early 2020, Rovers were heavily linked with a loan move for the then 20-year-old. Bristol City, his parent club, were keen to get him out and there was said to be heavy interest from Rovers. Then manager Darren Moore was quizzed by the Free Press in January 2020 but remained relatively tight-lipped, saying: "Everybody is after him aren’t they? I don’t think there is a League One or League Two club that’s not after him."
It's understood Rovers attempted to get Semenyo on loan but that Sunderland - at the time a big-hitter in League One - pipped them and many others by agreeing to cover a bigger chunk of his wages.
In the end Semenyo did indeed move to the North-east but was hardly a roaring success. He made just seven appearances and just one start. Upon his return to Ashton Gate he became a key man for the Robins and earned a £10million move to top flight Bournemouth in 2023. Three years on and he's again on the move, this time to a team operating right at the top of English football.
For Rovers, that near-miss six years ago is yet another case in football of what might have been...
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