Who will sign Semenyo in January and what will the four rejected sides, including Man Utd, do instead? | OneFootball

Just as Christmas quickly rolls around every year, the same can be said for the winter transfer window.

The summer window almost always overshadows its January equivalent, and this is likely to be the case this season after a few particularly hectic months in the sunshine, during which eight Premier League teams spent over £150m on signings.

In the winter, there is typically an equal amount of noise, but not nearly as much action, with the window often descending into a snore-fest.

This could easily be the case next month, but there are at least a few fascinating topics to be settled as Antoine Semenyo is among those at the heart of the conversation.

If Erling Haaland was not performing at such an unbeatable level, Semenyo would be considered a serious contender for Player of the Season in the Premier League at this point in the campaign.

The 25-year-old has been great for a couple of years, but he has taken his performances to a new level this term with ten goal involvements in 15 appearances for Bournemouth.

This is bittersweet for Bournemouth as they have reaped the rewards of his stellar performances this term, but it also means that he will soon be playing his football elsewhere.

This is especially the case because Semenyo has a reasonable £65m release clause in his current contract, which reportedly becomes active for a brief time in January.

And the intense competition for his services is another reason why an exit next month already feels pretty inevitable, with several outlets naming Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur as the clubs vying for his signature.

For the reasons mentioned above, this level of interest in Semenyo is hardly surprising, and on current form, he would immediately go into the starting XI of these teams upon joining.

But which of these five teams will win the race to acquire Semenyo next month? And possibly more importantly, what will the four rejected sides do instead?

Well, starting with Semenyo, each of these clubs has been leading the race to sign him at some stage over the last month, but that is obviously not the reality.

Instead, the truth is in what was initially reported about Semenyo before Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd and Spurs seemingly came charging in, with this perhaps a case of the player’s agent engineering a bidding war by feeding false updates to the media.

You perceptive readers will notice that Liverpool are not mentioned in the previous line; this is because they remain, as they always have been, the likely winner to sign Semenyo.

This is not only because The Guardian’s Jamie Jackson has reported that the winger ‘favours’ Liverpool. A move to Anfield just makes the most sense.

Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes, formerly of Bournemouth, has a relationship with Semenyo and already helped the Premier League giants sign former teammate Milos Kerkez in the summer.

The Reds are well-stocked up front with Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak, but they are nowhere near as strong in wide positions, and this situation has been made worse by Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo’s disappointing form.

Semenyo certainly fits the Liverpool mould for what they want from wingers, and he is also capable of playing on either flank.

This signing would be a significant boost for Liverpool, especially if Salah leaves, but the centre-back department remains a more pressing concern for Slot due to a lack of options and the declines suffered by Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk.

Marc Guehi, as he was in the summer, is the most obvious fix to this problem, but Liverpool could suffer more disappointment regarding this transfer in the winter.

After Liverpool messed around in the summer, the world is Guehi’s oyster, so he would be foolish to accept a move in January and give up a potentially massive signing-on fee at the end of the season. So they will likely have to settle for Semenyo as their only marquee signing in the winter, which is not to be sniffed at.

As for the other clubs, there have been murmurs about Arsenal doing a bit of business to ease their injury issues, though this “problem” cannot be used as an excuse for potentially another failed Premier League title challenge.

This is also the case because it seems like there will be no notable departees as Mikel Arteta slams the exit door shut, preventing Gabriel Jesus, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and co. from moving for more game time.

So with Arsenal already having the most complete squad in the Premier League, they have no real need to enter the market in January and surely won’t unless their injury issues suddenly worsen.

Man City, too, are unlikely to do anything regarding incomings, though they are probably second to Liverpool in the running for Semenyo.

Semenyo would obviously be a great addition, but they already have Jeremy Doku in Semenyo’s natural position. His performances have ranged from good to exceptional this season, so they are covered.

But unlike City and Arsenal, Spurs are in a far weaker position with their options in the final third.

Thomas Frank’s side are said to be pulling out all of the stops to sign Semenyo, but this will likely ultimately fail to sign the winger.

Instead, as David Ornstein has mentioned, it is foreseeable that they return for Man City star Savinho as an alternative after targeting him in the summer, with the winger currently only a bit-part player at the Etihad.

And finally, Manchester United’s supposed interest is not a shock as they lingered in the summer before signing Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha instead of spending £80m on Semenyo.

Man Utd certainly could do with Semenyo as they are already too reliant on Mbeumo and Cunha, but Liverpool are ahead of their rivals in the pecking order for good reason.

So with Semenyo likely heading elsewhere, Man Utd’s window should be more low-key, with potentially only one in and one out.

This would be in the midfield department, with a loan for Kobbie Mainoo said to be dependent on Man Utd signing a replacement, who will be a Conor Gallagher or a Ruben Neves, before getting their chequebook out for Carlos Baleba, Elliot Anderson and/or Adam Wharton in the summer.

Now, feel free to hibernate for the entire January transfer window, because you already know which transfers will and won’t happen involving five of the Big Six. You’re welcome…