Romano names forward who’ll LEAVE Man Utd if Semenyo joins after ‘progress’ made | OneFootball

Manchester United are one of two clubs pushing hard to sign Antoine Semenyo right now, and if the Bournemouth winger arrives at Old Trafford, Fabrizio Romano has strongly hinted a United forward will leave.

Semenyo, 25, is perhaps the most in-demand star as we approach the January transfer window. The Cherries ace can be signed via a £65m release clause that has attracted the attention of Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool and Tottenham.

Spurs were prepared to make Semenyo their highest paid player, but the north London club have quietly been informed by Semenyo and his camp that the winger does not want to join Tottenham.

That’s cut the race down to three, and according to multiple sources, including Fabrizio Romano and Ben Jacobs, it’s the two Manchester clubs who are pushing the hardest.

However, if Semenyo were to arrive at Old Trafford, transfer guru Romano has now suggested his arrival would be directly linked to Joshua Zirkzee’s exit.

The Dutchman is dismayed at his lack of game-time this season and in a World Cup year, is receptive to moving on. A return to Serie A by way of Roma is being discussed and per the reporter, progress on agreeing personal terms has been made.

After providing the latest on the future of Semenyo, Romano noted on his YouTube channel: “We will see what happens with Semenyo, and this, guys, remember this point, could be an important deal to understand what happens with Joshua Zirkzee.”

Romano continued: “Last week a meeting took place between Roma and the agents of Joshua Zirkzee. This week, Roma have been advancing in the conversations with the camp of Zirkzee.

“Roma are pushing, they want the player and consider him a top priority. The manager of Roma, Gian Piero Gasperini, is pushing to have the player as soon as possible at the beginning of January.

“Man Utd don’t want Zirkzee to leave at the beginning of January because they are short of options with Amad [Diallo] and [Bryan] Mbeumo at AFCON, Bruno [Fernandes] now injured, [Kobbie] Mainoo at the moment still not available.

“So Man Utd at the moment are still not giving the green light. Let’s see the timing and let’s see the official proposal from Roma, what kind of formula it’ll be.

“But on the player side Roma are making some progress. They’re trying to tempt Zirkzee by telling the player something like ‘here, you can be a regular starter, play every game, Italian and European football, you can be the hero of the city of Rome.'”

Romano concluded by stating Zirkzee is “open” to making the move to Roma and the deal now depends on Man Utd.

Who does Antoine Semenyo favour?

Despite Man Utd and Man City putting in the greatest effort to sign Semenyo so far, multiple sources have confirmed the winger favours Liverpool.

Our insider, Graeme Bailey, broke that news back on December 9 and the revelation was backed up by The Guardian over the weekend.

Semenyo’s priority is understood to be Liverpool number one, Man City number two, Man Utd number three.

Man Utd have presented their vision to Semenyo, though whether they can get the deal over the line may largely depend on Liverpool taking a pass.

And in lieu of Alexander Isak suffering a suspected broken leg, Romano stressed the Reds are expected to be active on the winter window.

Liverpool enquired into the situation of Semenyo back in November but haven’t followed up since. But as mentioned, the Isak injury is primed to force Liverpool into the market and it’s important to note Arne Slot’s side looked into signing Semenyo BEFORE the Mohamed Salah saga exploded.

Liverpool’s ideal aim is to sign Semenyo and retain Salah. It is not a case of Semenyo arriving would result in Salah leaving.

Of course, the difficulty for Liverpool would be convincing Salah he still has an important role to play at Anfield at a time when a potent new winger would be arriving.

Salah and his camp have made it crystal clear to Liverpool during recent talks that the Egyptian will not accept a squad role.

In other news, Benjamin Sesko has come in for strong criticism and was told he was “humiliated” in the wake of Manchester United’s frustrating 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa on Sunday

Elsewhere, a statistic flashed up on the Sky Sports screen as the game between Villa and Man Utd was about to kick off that made .