Man Utd face Bournemouth at Old Trafford tonight and Ruben Amorim has praised Cherries attacker Antoine Semenyo.
Antoine Semenyo is having an excellent season for Bournemouth
Ruben Amorim labelled Antoine Semenyo a “special player” ahead of Manchester United’s Premier League fixture with Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Monday night. United showed an interest in the forward during the summer before making moves for Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha to strengthen their attack.
Semenyo remained with the Cherries and enjoyed another strong start to the season, although his form has wavered in the past few weeks. The 25-year-old hasn’t scored or assisted in any of his last seven games, although a return of six goals and three assists in 14 Premier League games is still impressive.
The Ghana international, who will remain available for Bournemouth for the next month after his country failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), will be a threat to United tonight. Amorim spoke highly of Bournemouth, Semenyo, and their head coach, Andoni Iroala, despite their failure to win any of their last six games.
The Cherries could also end up losing Semenyo in January, with the attacker understood to have a £65 million release clause in his contract for the winter window. Liverpool have been linked with a move for him next month. As much as Amorim likes the player, he denied his praise meant he wanted United to make a move for him.
“No, it’s not the case. I think there is a lot of special players in the league,” he said. “What I feel is that it’s to summarise the top manager, top team. I really like the team and the top player. I think he is a special player.”
Amorim will again be without Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire against Bournemouth, but even with central defenders injured, he has continued his policy of making changes from the bench in that position during games.
A centre-back has come off the bench to replace another centre-back in 14 of United’s 15 Premier League games this term, but Amorim insisted the circumstances were always different and that often it was fitness-related.
“Sometimes it’s a little bit bad luck,” he said. “Ayden was suffering and asked us to change [at Wolves]. Nous had that knock and asked us. He was talking about that. Diogo is a defender not a centre-back. He had an issue.
“Most of the times, Harry Maguire sometimes has an issue. Sometimes it’s that situation that occurs a lot of times. So sometimes it’s a tactical issue because I believe that those are the guys that have to start all the plays and the quality comes from them, but a lot of times also we need to change because of the physical aspect.”
