'Next step': Liverpool handed new Antoine Semenyo transfer hope after £65m revelation | OneFootball

Reds look destined to battle Manchester City to sign Bournemouth and Ghana star in January window

Liverpool have been handed a potential transfer boost after Antoine Semenyo was urged to take “the next step” in his career.

The Reds are long-time admirers of the Bournemouth forward and continue to be heavily linked with a move for his services ahead of the January window.

However, Liverpool are likely to face a tough battle for Semenyo’s signature, with The Times reporting last weekend that Premier League rivals Manchester City were considering activating the player’s release clause next month.

It would give the Cherries adequate time to replace Semenyo before the winter window closed in the event that he did leave the club.

Semenyo has now been urged to make a move by his Ghana manager Otto Addo, who believes it is time for him to step up ahead of next summer’s World Cup in North America, where Ghana have been placed in a group alongside England, Croatia and Panama.

"He has done very well at Bournemouth, but with all the respect for Bournemouth and what they're doing, surely it is natural for him to take the next step," Addo told The Athletic after Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington, D.C.

"Whether its in the winter or summer, it is a difference question but it won't make a difference for us. I'm looking forward to him showing more of what he can to the world."

Semenyo joined Bournemouth from Championship side Bristol City in a £10m transfer back in the summer of 2023 and has gone on to score 28 goals in 113 appearances across all competitions, providing 13 assists.

He has six goals and three assists in 14 outings so far this term for a Cherries team that were initially flying high again under Andoni Iraola, only to suffer a concerning dip in form over recent weeks having lost four of their last five matches.

Semenyo has not scored for club or country since early October, though Iraola has insisted that the ongoing transfer speculation is not to blame.

The Spaniard is also not concerned about rumours of an exit for his star player, saying recently: “We are in November. Antoine is our player, he will continue being our player.

“In January, you can ask me about the market in January, but right now I'm not worried about the next markets.

“It's something that especially you know that I hate to talk about in August, January, the moments when the market is open, but it is not one of those moments.

“I'm more worried about the situation of the players to play tomorrow, the short-term, the things that really matter and in January, we will talk about whatever happens, the players we need. But it is not something that I'm worried about today.”