Chelsea pull out of Antoine Semenyo race as Premier League rivals cluster | OneFootball

Chelsea have pulled off a sensational U-turn in their pursuit of Ghanaian forward Antoine Semenyo.

According to The Athletic, the Blues have stepped away from the race for the Bournemouth forward despite making an initial enquiry.

Semenyo is the most wanted forward in the Premier League, drawing interest from Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Manchester United.

The Blues made contact on Monday evening after Semenyo had used his day off to reflect on his future.

However, that initial move will not be taken any further for now, as Chelsea strongly believe in the attacking options already available to Enzo Maresca.

While the Blues are still open to bringing in reinforcements, any major deal is more likely to take place in the summer rather than the winter transfer window.

Chelsea have plenty of attacking talent on the flanks, but those players have only shown glimpses of their potential.

Pedro Neto is the most experienced, so it’s no surprise that he’s leading the joint-top scorer at the moment, level on five goals with summer addition Joao Pedro.

That’s more than Alejandro Garnacho, Estevao, and Jamie Gittens, who have managed just two Premier League goals between them so far.

The Blues could do with another winger who carries plenty of goalscoring threat, and Semenyo would have checked that box.

The “world class” winger has already scored eight goals in 16 Premier League games, that’s more than all four of Chelsea’s current wingers combined (seven).

He has also created four big chances and delivered three assists in the league this season.

Semenyo has a £65 million release clause in his contract with Bournemouth that can be activated in the opening days of the winter transfer window.

While Bournemouth will be keen to keep their most prized asset, they could be powerless to stop him from leaving the club if his release clause is activated.

At the moment, Man City are believed to be leading the race for Semenyo, who has racked up 30 goals and 13 assists in 106 games for Bournemouth.