Thomas Frank reveals Tottenham Hotspur wanted to sign Antoine Semenyo this month | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has revealed that Spurs attempted to sign Antoine Semenyo this month before he moved to Manchester City.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium club were linked with the Ghana international, but he joined the Etihad Stadium club in a £64 million deal from Bournemouth on January 9.

Semenyo has hit the ground running at Man City, with three goals and one assist to his name in four appearances.

He could have been getting those goals for Spurs if they had their way, with Frank revealing the extent to which the club went in their attempts to sign him.

“The club work relentlessly to try to do the best they can to try to improve the squad, especially Johan (Lange), Fabio (Paritici) and Vinai (Venkatesham), and all the people behind them,” the Tottenham boss revealed today.

“I mean it, we can’t be too obsessed with short-term fixes that don’t help with the long term, because if we don’t do that, then all the hard work we put in now can be limited for the future.

“And that’s not that we don’t badly want short-term success. I can promise that the Lewis family is super committed to this project; they want to do everything.

“And I will go against my rule, hopefully only once, that there’s no doubt it was clear that the club wanted to sign Semenyo.

“They did everything – I think that’s a clear signal that the Lewis family is very committed. That’s a big signing with finances and all that.

“So that’s the quality of players we’re looking for to improve the squad, and if we can’t find that, then it’s definitely better to take the right decisions.

“Not just saying we’re just getting quality players going forward because we all know it’s not that easy, and I’m sure, for whatever reason, we are not able to get another player or players in this window, then for the summer it’s a big summer ahead, and I’m not in doubt we’ll see big improvements there.”

He has been involved in 37 goals since last term, with 26 goals and 11 assists to his name, and Spurs could do with such an attacker.

They will be facing him on Sunday when they host Man City and will have to be on top of their game to stop him and the visitors from leaving with a result.

Semenyo bagged the winner for Bournemouth when they played Tottenham two days before his departure to City, scoring a 94th-minute goal to break Spurs’ hearts.