Manchester City set to complete £65M Antoine Semenyo transfer as Bournemouth star gives green light for switch | OneFootball

Manchester City are working to close a deal for Bournemouth and Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo this week, as per several reports in England.

City have been mulling over the activation of Semenyo’s £65 million release clause that gets activated in January to shore up their frontline as the Blues challenge for the Premier League title against Arsenal and Mikel Arteta.

With Jeremy Doku still sidelined and Omar Marmoush representing Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, executives at the Etihad Stadium – led by director of football Hugo Viana – have held direct talks with Semenyo’s camp in recent weeks.

Manchester United were rivalling City for the winger, who was also on Chelsea’s radar this week – only for the west London outfit to pull out of the race – though Liverpool were also deemed an interested party after British record signing Aleksandar Isak suffered a leg injury against Tottenham at the weekend.

City have reportedly been pushing Semenyo’s representatives for an indication on his destination preference in recent days and it now appears that the Blues have won the race to sign the Bournemouth star in January.

As reported by David Ornstein of The Athletic, Semenyo has indicated a preference to join Manchester City to fulfil his ambitions of competing for major trophies – with Pep Guardiola’s side in pole position to finish the current season with silverware.

Ornstein has noted that no formal agreement is currently in place between Manchester City and Bournemouth, who are expected to sanction a transfer for their highly coveted striker, who has established himself as one of England’s best forwards under Andoni Iraola.

Fabrizio Romano has added that City are now working to finalise a transfer for Semenyo in the coming days, having pipped Manchester United and Liverpool to the 25-year-old’s signature.

Manchester City have been overly reliant on Erling Haaland to provide the goods in front of goal for much of the 2025-26 season so far, with Guardiola cognisant that the goals need to be spread around to sustain his side’s aspirations for silverware.

The Blues revamped their first-team ranks in the summer transfer window, making seven new signings and letting all of Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker, Scott Carson, Ederson and James McAtee leave the club in the backdrop of a trophyless 2024-25 campaign.

City are still in an embryonic phase of their transition under Viana and while the jury remains out on whether Guardiola’s new-look side can finish the season with silverware, Semenyo is a significant addition to a frontline that has been scoring for fun in recent months.

Still, Guardiola will be delighted to get his hands on one of the Premier League’s most feared attackers should Manchester City go on and complete a deal for Semenyo, with the Blues boss having personally driven his club’s interest in the Ghanian.