ONG KONG, CHINA - AUGUST 1: Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City (R) and Andy Diouf of Inter Milan (L) compete for the ball during the Manchester City v Inter Milan - Pre-Season Friendly at Kai Tak Stadium on August 1, 2026 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
ONG KONG, CHINA - AUGUST 1: Antoine Semenyo of Manchester City (R) and Andy Diouf of Inter Milan (L) compete for the ball during the Manchester City v Inter Milan - Pre-Season Friendly at Kai Tak Stadium on August 1, 2026 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
View 2 Images
Antoine Semenyo can’t wait to take on defenders every week after getting new orders from Manchester City boss Enzo Maresca. The 26-year-old enjoyed a whirlwind start at the Etihad after a January switch from Bournemouth and is not planning on letting full-backs have any rest this season.
That was on display in City’s first friendly on Saturday in Hong Kong as he cut through the Inter defence on countless occasions from the left in the first half, setting up Divin Mubama to tap in the opening goal. Semenyo spoke after the game about fooling his defender by going on the outside a few times before cutting in onto his right foot.
Maresca had said he wanted to see some new patterns from training in the Inter game, and wants his wingers to play high and wide as they did at Leicester and Chelsea. Having noticed that when he was playing for Bournemouth, Semenyo was excited to hear Maresca would be succeeding Pep Guardiola and his first conversation with the new manager about his role for the coming season did not disappoint.