Andoni Iraola opens up on Antoine Semenyo future amid Manchester City push for transfer | OneFootball

Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola has insisted upon his hope of retaining Antoine Semenyo for as long as possible, despite a seemingly imminent Manchester City transfer.

Behind the scenes, momentum continues to build around a potential January move to the Etihad Stadium, with City accelerating discussions as they look to add a goalscoring wide forward to Pep Guardiola’s squad.

As previously reported, Manchester City officials are in active talks with both Semenyo’s representatives and Bournemouth as they attempt to conclude a deal swiftly. The 25-year-old has emerged as one of City’s leading targets following concerns over the lack of consistent output from wide areas, with Guardiola a key driving force behind the pursuit.

Reports across the last week have suggested that Antoine Semenyo himself is open to the move and keen for clarity early in the January window. From Bournemouth’s perspective, however, the situation remains delicate.

The Cherries are preparing for the likelihood that Semenyo’s release clause will be triggered, but there remains a desire to keep one of their most influential players available for as long as possible, particularly with crucial fixtures still to come.

Speaking to reporters after Bournemouth’s recent 4-1 defeat to Brentford in Premier League action, Andoni Iraola opened up on the future of Antoine Semenyo, and insisted upon his desire to retain the Ghanaian forward for longer.

“If he can play years for us, it’s much better! If it cannot be years, it can be months. If he can only play weeks, it is weeks but the more time he plays with us, the better for us,” Iraola explained.

The South Coast club’s head coach continued, “Antoine’s situation is quite clear. Antoine is a massive player for us and even in games like today where probably he hasn’t played well, he is always a threat to score and assist.

“Obviously I don’t want to lose him. This is quite clear, but there are some situations that are not under my control. He will be available to play again in three days [versus Chelsea] and then the next one and I hope he plays a lot more with us.”

Those comments align closely with recent reporting that Bournemouth would ideally like Semenyo available for upcoming fixtures before his £65 million release clause window closes, even as interest from Manchester City intensifies.

Previous updates have stressed that the decision from Semenyo’s side is not financially driven, but instead centred on the sporting opportunity presented by Pep Guardiola and the chance to compete for major honours.

As things stand, Manchester City are pushing to wrap up an agreement during talks on Monday, with a clear preference to have the deal finalised in readiness for the January window opening.

While Bournemouth may yet benefit from Semenyo’s availability in the short term, all indications suggest control of the situation is increasingly shifting away from the south coast club.