Meet the NEXT Antoine Semenyo who could now sign for Liverpool | OneFootball

There's an alternative option to Antoine Semenyo, who Liverpool could sign.

It was bitterly disappointing to hear that the Bournemouth winger has chosen Man City as his preference for his next destination.

Nothing is settled yet for the future of Semenyo, but it looks like he's bound for the Etihad and Liverpool are going to be missing out on him.

For the last few months, he's been heavily linked with a move to Anfield. Some fans have become convinced that he would end-up becoming a Liverpool player.

Unfortunately, it's not to be. In the end, Liverpool seemingly moved on from Semenyo. Why that might have been the case remains to be seen, but clearly there was something that made the club ultimately turns their attention elsewhere.

After all, there is no way they simply just decided not to sign nor invest in an attacker during the transfer window, because the Reds are real short of options at the moment.

Given all the injuries and Mo Salah's absence at the African Cup of Nations, there's a real genuine need for Liverpool to bring in reinforcements.

And one of those alternative options who could be the next Semenyo is Matias Fernandez-Pardo of Lille.

Only 20-years-old, he's a tall and explosive winger who thrives in one vs one situations and who can represent both Belgium and Spain at international level.

Fernandez-Pardo is on Liverpool's radar. The club are monitoring his progress closely at Lille but Anfield Watch understands Liverpool scouts have been watching him since he broke out at Gent back in the 2023/24 campaign.

What makes him a really interesting profile is that similar to Semenyo he can play across the front three.

Looking at his senior minutes, he's played 592 minutes on the right-wing, 1420 minutes in an attacking midfield/centre-forward role and 2290 minutes on the left-wing.

So, there's a real nice balance there. Clearly his preference because he is a very right-footed player is to play off the left and cut into the middle.

But what's impressive about Fernandez-Pardo is that he can also go on the outside and play a cut-back to his teammate and is comfortable using his left-foot when he needs to do it.

For shooting, he definitely prefers cutting in and using his right-foot and he has a great ball-striking technique.

© IMAGO - Matias Fernandez-Pardo Liverpool

As an attacking player, he definitely needs to have more of an impact in the opposition's final third. He can over hit shots and sometimes he blasts them into defenders for easy blocks, when there might have been a more optimal decision he could have made.

But it's the dribbling and one vs one ability that catches the eye. Fernandez-Pardo is so good at shifting his body and exploding from a standing position.

He has excellent close control and quick feet that make it impossible for defenders to keep up with him. Standing at 1.88 metres with a strong muscular body, he's hard to knock off the ball and can dominate in this area as well.

It's an area where Liverpool have struggled and it's also an area that Semenyo is very good. Fernandez-Pardo's dribbling and one vs one ability is very similar to the Bournemouth winger.

He's a lot more raw as a profile but you expect that at 20-years-old. The upside is that he's a lot more mouldable and could have an even higher ceiling.