According to the iPaper’s Northen Football correspondent Mark Douglas, Liverpool FC are considering a January move for AFC Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo, with other interested clubs like Tottenham Hotspur
and Manchester United also in the race.
This follows reporting by talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, who revealed that the new, improved five-year contract signed by the former Bristol City man in the summer includes a secret release clause. Infamous Twitter rumour monger turned semi-credible source Indykalia then claimed the clause is £100million in January and £70million next summer.
Following the sale of Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, Liverpool were linked to Real Madrid’s Rodrygo, amongst others, but declined to pursue a left-winger in favour of a long and bitterly-contested transfer saga involving then-Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak.
Liverpool eventually got their man, with the reasoning for not pursuing a replacement left-winger put out to club-connected journalists being that this would keep the pathway for Rio Ngumoha open, while Cody Gakpo mans the left-winger spot for the most part. Now, Ngumoha nabbed the game-winner against Newcastle, but has been limited 5-10 minute bit-part appearances for the most part. The other option, Federico Chiesa, has largely been limited to the same type of minutes, despite looking lively and producing almost every time he comes on. Arne Slot clearly looks like he doesn’t trust both players to give regular minutes to either yet. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to shame the club here – we have depth, but a combination of form, integrating new players, and other issues have left fans wondering what the plan is here.
The main connection that’s fueling this link is obviously Richard Hughes, who signed Semenyo for Bournemouth. As for why he wasn’t signed in the summer, perhaps he wasn’t available, since he signed the extension that warded off rumours linking him to clubs like United.
As for the player himself, I do like him a lot. Semenyo is two-footed, and plays both flanks equally effectively, and can even spot at centre-forward if needed. (In the short-term, he is also not going to AFCON 2025 as Ghana did not qualify, although this matters way less this year as the tournament starts mid-late December.) If Mo Salah continues to be a fixture in the team, you can certainly see Semenyo being primarily an option on the left, and then moving on to the right if Mo leaves. His combination of two-footedness and high volume of shots (3 per 90) certainly gives him an element of unpredictability that Cody Gakpo has come in for criticism for recently. As an athlete, he would also add an element of intensity that the frontline has looked woefully lacking in as of late, especially with Salah and Isak both on the lower intensity side of things.
The price tag of £70-100million though? I’m not sure Liverpool can justify spending that sort of money on with a Non-Penalty Expected Goals average of of 0.37? Then agan, we spent about £70m on Ekitike and he’s not even first-choice at his position at the moment. Perhaps, with the team in flux and undergoing a major transition, Liverpool are valuing a higher floor, favouring factors such having already produced in the league and being able to play 2-3 positions in the front line at a high level, as they continue to reshape their attacking options.
