Manchester City learn of £65M release clause in January target’s contract | OneFootball

Bournemouth and Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo has a £65 million release clause in his contract that can be activated in the 2026 January transfer window, as per a new report.

Semenyo has established himself as one of the best attackers in England after a stellar few years at the Vitality Stadium under Cherries boss Andoni Iraola, with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City monitoring the forward’s contract situation in the south of England.

The 25-year-old is in the prime of his career and a move to one of England’s best clubs has long been mooted for the striker, who has scored six times in the Premier League this season to raise his stock ahead of the 2026 January transfer window.

Manchester City added seven new names to their first-team squad in the summer following the appointment of Hugo Viana as the club’s director of football, with the Portuguese conducting a thorough revamp of the dressing room in his first summer at the Etihad Stadium.

City are not expected to be very active in the January window, though Viana and co will be monitoring the market for any openings and opportunities that could bolster Pep Guardiola’s squad for the second half of the season.

Viana received huge plaudits for his shrewd recruitment of Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain for a cut-price £26 million on deadline day in the summer and Manchester City’s director of football will not be ruling out similar signings just yet.

Manchester City could do with reinforcements in attack as the Blues continue to rely heavily on Erling Haaland to supply the goods in front of goal week-in, week-out amid Guardiola’s criticism of a worrying lack of attacking output from out wide and midfield.

City have enjoyed a fine run of results in recent months and 11 wins in their last 14 games in all competitions have propelled them to touching distance of league leaders Arsenal, with Guardiola’s men also nearing qualification to the UEFA Champions League play-offs.

Alongside Liverpool, who suffered a 3-0 thumping at the hands of Manchester City before the ongoing international break, the Blues are also closely monitoring Semenyo’s contract situation at the Vitality Stadium should Bournemouth be willing to offers in January 2026.

As reported by Lyall Thomas writing for Sky Sport, there exists a release clause worth £60 million plus £5 million in add-ons in Semenyo’s contract at Bournemouth that can be activated in the 2026 January transfer window.

Tottenham are also in the race to sign the 25-year-old Ghanian, whose availability for a modest price could spring a bidding war among the Premier League’s best sides as Semenyo looks to make the next step in his career.

It remains to be seen whether Manchester City formalise their interest in the Bournemouth man or whether interest from the Etihad Stadium is just in its early stages as Semenyo’s representatives work behind the scenes to engineer a January transfer for the striker.