Why Manchester City moved early for Antoine Semenyo

January 12, 2026 Oliver Obel

Manchester City’s agreement to sign Antoine Semenyo for an initial £62.5m reflects a familiar recruitment strategy under Pep Guardiola: avoid the very top of the market, target players entering their prime, and back development over reputation. According to The Guardian, the forward has agreed a deal running to 2031 after City moved ahead of domestic rivals.

For Bournemouth, the transfer reinforces a business model built on identifying undervalued talent and selling at precisely the right moment. For City, it adds another physically dominant wide attacker capable of pressing aggressively and operating on either flank a profile Guardiola has increasingly prioritised.

Semenyo’s path to this point was anything but direct. As a teenager, he was released or rejected by multiple academies and took a year away from football altogether. That uneven early development is part of what allowed Bournemouth to acquire him before his value fully crystallised.

The fee sits comfortably within City’s recent transfer logic. The club’s experience with nine-figure deals most notably Jack Grealish has produced mixed returns, and the preference in recent windows has been to invest slightly below that threshold. Semenyo’s Bournemouth contract extension last summer effectively fixed his price, much as Dean Huijsen’s did before his move to Real Madrid.

Although Liverpool and Manchester United tracked the Ghana international, neither club acted when Semenyo made clear he wanted a January move. At City, he is expected to complement Jérémy Doku on the opposite wing, offering a contrasting blend of strength, directness and work rate around Erling Haaland.

Financial limits shape Bournemouth’s transfer strategy

Bournemouth’s willingness to sell is shaped as much by regulation as ambition. The Guardian reported that owner Bill Foley’s £71.4m shareholder loan write-off, recorded in the club’s 2022-23 accounts, helped ensure compliance with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules. With wages accounting for roughly 71% of revenue last season and stadium expansion plans still unrealised, player trading remains central to the club’s financial balance.

Head coach Andoni Iraola was open about his reluctance to lose one of his most productive players. “If he can play years for us, it’s much better,” Iraola said. “If it cannot be years, it can be months.” Semenyo ranked among the league’s leading players for combined goals and assists at the time of the move.

A late developer shaped outside the academy system

His transformation into a modern winger was not inevitable. Early in his career, Semenyo played centrally and lacked conditioning. David Hockaday, who worked with him during a trial period at Bisham Abbey, recalled being struck by flashes of ability that were still raw. “It was like an itch that I couldn’t forget,” Hockaday said, describing the decision to guide Semenyo into further education football and eventually toward Bristol City, via a loan spell at Bath City.

Even then, progress was uneven. Lee Johnson, the manager who gave Semenyo his senior opportunity at Bristol City, said the club had to invest heavily in his development. “He didn’t have the pedigree, he hadn’t really come through an academy, everybody at the club had to put a lot of effort in,” Johnson said, adding that the player arrived “a couple of stone overweight”.

Lifestyle changes and steady improvement followed. After five years at Ashton Gate, Bournemouth signed Semenyo in January 2023. Bristol City are now set to receive around £10.5m from the transfer through a sell-on clause, on top of the original fee.

It was only last season, during Bournemouth’s extended unbeaten run, that Semenyo fully established himself as a focal point. This campaign began with two goals at Anfield on opening night and a player-of-the-month award soon after. Turning 26 in January, he arrives at City at a stage when physical peak and tactical maturity tend to converge even for players whose development came later than most.

For Bournemouth, his departure is another reminder that success often accelerates exits. For City, it is a calculated bet that a player once overlooked can still scale the highest level.

Sources: The Guardian