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The job that Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola performed at Bournemouth was remarkable.
Under Eddie Howe, they had established themselves as a solid Premier League side but the Spaniard helped them become a great team, leaving over the summer having guided the Cherries to their first-ever European adventure.
The way that club is run is first-class. Liverpool could learn a thing or two about the way they recruit in the transfer window. From the likes of Alex Scott to Eli Junior Kroupi and Antoine Semenyo, there have been very few misses.
REUTERS/Peter Powell
Scott and Kroupi will likely fetch large sums in the future, but Semenyo has to be seen as Iraola's greatest success story on the south coast.
What Liverpool can learn from Iraola's use of Semenyo
Before the days of Iraola, Semenyo was a centre-forward. During his final full season at Bristol City, he played as the leading striker on 27 occasions, scoring eight goals and supplying ten assists in the Championship.
He initially signed for the Cherries in the winter of 2023. However, his career totally transformed when Iraola arrived at the Vitality in the summer of that year.
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The Spaniard began profiling the attacker as a winger and the rest is history. During his first full season under the manager's stewardship, he played 23 times on the right, scoring five goals, while he featured from the left on five occasions, netting once.
In 2024/25, he really went to the next level. That season, Semenyo only played one game as a striker. He featured 20 times off the left, bagging five times. He also played 18 times from the right flank, scoring six.
So, why did Iraola do this? Well, firstly, he wanted to exploit Semenyo's ability to play off either foot. Secondly, he identified that the Ghanaian's work rate was top-notch. This was a player willing to press, willing to do the dirty work and track back. It was also felt that his ability to carry the ball was better served deeper back.
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Semenyo under Iraola
Games
Goals
Assists
Mins per goal
Mins per assists
What can Liverpool learn from this? Well, £123m man Bradley Barcola has already been used in a similar way, featuring off both flanks. Rio Ngumoha is another who has performed a similar role. Even before Iraola arrived, Arne Slot had played the teenager on the right and left.
For the pair of them to be really successful under Iraola, they will need to improve their work rate. Bournemouth had other hard-working wingers in their side, most notably Marcus Tavernier. Thus, if you want to thrive under the new manager, that's where you need to be willing to get better.
Another Semenyo is on the way to Liverpool
With the success that Semenyo had at the Cherries under Iraola, there are always going to be comparisons made at Liverpool.
How exactly will the manager find his new version? Well, perhaps he hasn't even arrived on Merseyside just yet.
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In the dying stages of the summer transfer window, Liverpool didn't just sign Barcola but they signed another exciting French attacker. He goes by the name of Djylian N'Guessan.
The Reds announced on 4th September, just days after the window closed, that they had pre-agreed a deal with Saint-Étienne to sign the player in January. For now, he will spend the 2026/27 season on loan at Ligue 1 club, Stade Brestois.
So, what's he all about? Well, this 18-year-old forward is incredibly exciting. In the words of European football expert Bence Bocsak, he is a "similar profile to Eli Junior Kroupi" but there are comparisons to be made to Semenyo too.
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Indeed, as Bocsak points out, he "can use both his left and right foot comfortably which makes him unpredictable." Remember, that is one of the primary reasons Iraola deployed Semenyo off either flank.
N'Guessan will arrive at Liverpool in 2027 as a centre forward by trade, but much like Kroupi and Semenyo, he can play out wide.
He boasts some similar traits to the latter that would help him settle quickly under the new manager. His defensive work rate is impressive; he tracks back well and for his age, he's a solid presser of the ball.
Yet, as Como scout Ben Mattinson notes, the teenager is not just a goalscorer. "He's a good facilitator," Mattinson wrote on social media. "He peels wide to find space or create space for others" and has "a quality first touch, good link-up play and nice box movement."
As a result, it sounds like Iraola is going to get his hands on a very clever young player here. He's got a lot of core attributes that would make him extremely malleable, just like Semenyo when he first arrived at Bournemouth.
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