Manchester City appear to be the first club taking steps towards potentially signing breakout Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo when the January transfer window opens.
City have never shied away from splashing big cash when it is deemed necessary, notably spending in excess of £170 million ($225.6 million) on four new first-team players last January—usually considered a market that offers limited choice and poor value.
That spending spree continued over the summer, with another £181 million on six additions.
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But City remain partway through a squad rebuild in the wake of last season’s shock collapse that ended a run of consecutive Premier League titles at four. As a result, Pep Guardiola’s side are not quite back to their former level of dominance, having lost four of 13 league fixtures so far.
Erling Haaland has scored more than half (14) of City’s Premier League goals (27) this season and a move for a blossoming and versatile forward like Semenyo could help address that overreliance. “The big teams score with many, many players. If it’s just Erling that scores the goals we will struggle,” Guardiola admitted in the wake of the weekend’s 3–2 win over Leeds United.
The Times writes that City are now “considering” whether to trigger Semenyo’s release clause. The figure is believed to be set at £65 million and will become active from January 1. It is said that City are “not yet fully committed” to going ahead with it, although some at the club believe adding Semenyo to the mix will “give them the edge” when it comes to reeling in leaders Arsenal.
The important caveat is that it must be triggered by a certain, undisclosed, date in January so that Bournemouth have the time to source a suitable replacement. It means moving early.
City aren’t the only club seemingly interested, with links in recent weeks to Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The Liverpool case is curious because of Anfield sporting director Richard Hughes being the one to sign the Ghana international for Bournemouth in 2023. However, Liverpool might rule themselves out after spending more than £400 million in the summer.
Semenyo has scored six Premier League goals and assisted a further three in the Premier League so far in 2025–26. No City player other than Haaland has that many goals at this stage of the campaign, only Hugo Ekitiké (6) can match him from Liverpool, while Manchester United and Tottenham’s respective top league scorers, Bryan Mbeumo and Richarlison, only have five each.
Antoine Semenyo has plenty of high-profile admirers. / Visionhaus/Getty Images
It has already been made clear that Bournemouth refuse to stop their best players from leaving the club to have the opportunity of a bigger stage. During the 2025 summer transfer window alone, Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi and Milos Kerkez joined Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool respectively for a combined figure in the region of £144.5 million.
“When a club like Real Madrid, Liverpool, PSG come in and they’re competing for Champions League positions, who are we to say, ‘No, you can‘t go, you can‘t fulfil your dream,’” Cherries general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said recently.
That philosophy persists now with Semenyo, whose release clause ensures that Bournemouth will at least be financially well off as a result, thanks to what would be a huge £55 million profit in three years—Bournemouth paid Bristol City just £10 million in January 2023 for a prospect who had never previously played any higher than the Championship.
It very much appears that the new five-year contract he signed as recently as July was intended to protect the club and secure the best future sale price, rather than signify a long-term commitment between the parties.
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