The January transfer window is just a few weeks away, and one team that is in desperate need of a mid-season reinforcement is Manchester United. They need a player who can help them compete for the Champions League positions and deliver week in week out. They don’t need a rookie who’s learning on the job; they need a world-class attacking figure who’s going to deliver from the start. They need Antoine Semenyo.
Semenyo’s rise to the top of English football was far from conventional. Born in Chelsea,
England to Ghanaian parents, Semenyo started off at Bristol City’s academy but was forced to undergo loans at Bath City, Newport County and Sunderland before finally breaking into the team in 2020/21 and being named Bristol City’s Young Player of the Year. Semenyo scored 21 goals and 21 assists in 125 appearances for Bristol City before eventually making the move to Bournemouth after signing a 4.5-year contract on January 27, 2023. Whilst he made his debut one week later, he would have to wait another three months before getting off the mark for Bournemouth.
With a full preseason under his belt, Semenyo scored 8 goals and 3 assists in 36 appearances for the Cherries, but he took things up another level in 2024/25, getting off to a red-hot start to the season and continuing that momentum under Andoni Iraola. Similar to other strikers like Robert Lewandowski, Jason Shokalook and Borja Mayoral, Semenyo thrived at timing his runs to perfection and exploiting teams’ offside traps with patient and incisive movement into the box before coolly slotting into the back of the net. It’s precisely these world-class talents that have made his £10 million price tag look like an absolute steal, and it’s why just about every single Premier League team with serious ambitions is inquiring about a potential deal for Semenyo.
Semenyo, who turns 26 on January 7, has a release clause in his contract at Bournemouth that allows him to move for £65 million in the first two weeks of the January window. Manchester City are reportedly keen on a move as they look to close the gap on league leaders Arsenal. Liverpool are also linked as a potential suitor with Mohamed Salah’s future looking farther away from Anfield than ever before, whilst Arsenal and Tottenham have also put out feelers. It’s why, if United are to pull off a move for Semenyo, they will need to act fast.
There are quite a few reasons why United need to splurge the cash on Semenyo. The Red Devils’ squad options are set to diminish in the coming weeks with Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbuemo and Amad Diallo heading off to Morocco to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations. With Mbuemo and Diallo gone, United’s attacking options are sparse – neither Joshua Zirkzee nor Benjamin Sesko have managed to hit the ground running in England, with the latter returning from a medium-term injury. Matheus Cunha has shown signs of his individual quality but isn’t holding up his end of the bargain in front of the goal, whilst Mason Mount still hasn’t come close to finding his Chelsea form. United need proven quality – they can’t afford to cut corners. They need someone like Semenyo, who is on course to hit double figures in the Premier League for the second straight year with 7 goals and 3 assists in 15 appearances for Bournemouth this season. After scoring in both of their meetings last season, Semenyo made it three goals in a row against United when he equalized in their 4-4 draw at Old Trafford, and he has proven time and time again to be a thorn in Amorim’s side.
If you can’t beat them, buy them. That’s been the motto for quite a few of the biggest teams in world football. After missing out on the previous two league titles, Bayern Munich signed Mario Gotze from domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund, proceeding to win the next 11 Bundesliga championships. After losing out on the Ligue 1 title, PSG went out and signed Kylian Mbappe from newly crowned champions Monaco. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and whilst the big dogs are feasting, Manchester United find themselves starving for major silverware. They haven’t reached a UEFA Champions League Final since 2011, they haven’t won a Premier League title since 2013, and they find themselves outside of UEFA competition after a dismal season that saw them finish 15th in the table and lose to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League Final. Whilst United have shown some signs of improvement under Ruben Amorim this season, they nevertheless sit sixth in the Premier League table, level on 26 points with Liverpool, Sunderland and Crystal Palace, and two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.
Semenyo has emerged as a regular goal scorer for Bournemouth, but the same cannot be said with his international exploits, with just 3 goals and 1 assist in 32 appearances for Ghana. And after competing in the 2022 World Cup and 2024 AFCON, Semenyo will be looking to finally make his mark in his third major tournament in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Black Stars will take on Panama in Toronto before facing England in Foxborough and Croatia in Philadelphia. If Semenyo has a breakout tournament in the world’s biggest stage, then Bournemouth will be entitled to demand a fortune for Semenyo, who has a contract until 2030. United cannot afford to wait around any longer – they need to pull the trigger and bring one of the best players in the Premier League to the red side of Manchester.
