Bournemouth want star attacker Antoine Semenyo to stay until the end of the season despite interest from big six Premier League clubs over a January move.
The 25-year-old signed a new contract on 1 July, despite summer interest from Manchester United and Tottenham. However, the deal includes a series of release clauses that give the Ghana international future opportunities to leave.
The first clause would allow Semenyo to leave for £65m before 10 January – a date chosen to give Bournemouth time to find a replacement. That figure will reduce by £5m in the summer of 2026.
Bournemouth would prefer to either keep Semenyo for the rest of the season by selling him at the lower price later, or agreeing a pre-contract in January for their prized asset to move after the 2026 summer World Cup.
United, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool have a lot of attacking options, so pre-agreeing a deal ahead of the summer could be attractive, as it would allow time to offload players.
On the south coast, Bournemouth are understood to be exploring replacements but do not have anyone immediately lined up, with additional players likely to be made available in the coming weeks. The Cherries expect a quiet transfer window unless Semenyo’s release clause is triggered.
Semenyo, meanwhile, is without a goal or an assist in seven league matches having got six goals and three assists in his first seven matches.
When asked whether transfer interest is proving a distraction, his manager Andoni Iraola said: “No, Antoine is giving us a lot, he is not a number nine so we don’t expect him to score in every game. He is a threat, can continue giving us a lot of numbers, but it is not his main job. I haven’t seen any change in his attitude.”
