Antoine Semenyo’s stance on leaving AFC Bournemouth in the January transfer window has been revealed after interest from several clubs.
Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham are all believed to be keen on the 25-year-old, who has shined in the Premier League this season.
Semenyo has even been tipped to join former teammate Dean Huijsen at Real Madrid if he continues his impressive performances in the top-flight.
The Ghana international winger has conjured up six goals and three assists in 11 Premier League games for Bournemouth so far this term.
It’s understood there’s a release clause in Semenyo’s contract and while it’s not yet known how much the figure is, the Cherries value him over £75m.
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Some outlets have now claimed Semenyo has asked to leave the club in January but those rumours have been shut down by Mark McAdam on X.
The Sky Sports reporter has revealed the player’s stance on a January move by posting: ‘Antoine Semenyo has not asked to leave Bournemouth. He’s fully focused on performing for the team.’
United have long been interested in Semenyo and Ruben Amorim even went out for dinner with the player to convince him to join in the summer.
It is thought that United were only willing to fork out £55m for Semenyo, which was well below Bournemouth’s valuation.
Semenyo ended up signing a new deal with the south coast club in July and described Bournemouth as his ‘safe place’.
‘If you go somewhere, you want to feel wanted, and I didn’t feel that,’ Semenyo told Sky Sports.
‘This is my safe place. I felt wanted. It feels great. I want to be playing, that’s the most important thing for me.
‘We’ve got a good group here and we’re wanting to achieve top things this year. So this is the best place to be right now.’
Semenyo has openly admitted that he is an Arsenal fan but David James has told Metro that it doesn’t mean he will be heading to the Emirates.
‘I love it when I hear that football players are fans of certain teams, because, you know, being a fan doesn’t mean that you’re there,’ the former Bournemouth goalkeeper said.
‘You’ve not got your bedroom kitted out with posters of your favourite players on it. It might just be that he likes their style of play.’
James feels Semenyo’s next club will depend on if he would prefer more game time or to win trophies.
‘I think the question would be, where is he going to get game time?’ James added. ‘It’s the Premier League with five substitutes, [so] there’s always going to be game time [but] is it going to be the game time that he wants, compared to Bournemouth? Or is it just purely about winning trophies?’