Liverpool given Antoine Semenyo transfer impetus by Mo Salah situation and fierce competition

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Liverpool may have to move for Antoine Semenyo in January, with other situations conspiring to force their hand. Semenyo has been a long-term transfer target for the Reds – and they may move for the Bournemouth attacker in the upcoming window.

Liverpool spent £450million on players in the summer transfer window, with Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike arriving to overhaul their forward line. But Isak and Wirtz – the two most expensive players in the club’s history – have struggled to bed in so far, while the Mohamed Salah situation has exacerbated things for Arne Slot .

Salah’s future at Liverpool is currently unclear after he accused Slot of throwing him under the bus in a fiery interview on Saturday. The 33-year-old has played just 45 minutes of Liverpool’s last four matches and is furious with the way Slot has treated him.

The club have made their backing of Slot clear, leaving Salah at a crossroads as he prepares to leave Merseyside to play for Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations. Semenyo has been considered as a long-term replacement for Salah, whose contract expires in June 2027, and Liverpool may be pressed into action next month.

That is because the interest in the Bournemouth forward has grown among Liverpool’s Premier League rivals. Semenyo has six goals and three assists in 14 Premier League games this season and BBC Sport reports that Manchester City and Tottenham are contenders for his signature, while he is also on Manchester United ’s radar and an exit in 2026 now feels ‘inevitable’.

Although he is under contract with the Cherries until June 2030, having penned an extension in July, Semenyo has a clause in his contract that would allow an exit in the first two weeks of January for a fee in the region of £65million. That is of particular interest to City, who are known to prefer straightforward deals, rather than protracted bidding wars.

Like Liverpool, City have a wealth of attacking options, but have previously shown that they will move for top players when they are available.

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Arsenal and United have shown an interest in Semenyo previously, but both clubs are understood to be happy with their current crop of attackers. The Gunners are flying high in the Premier League and Champions League , while United splashed £200m to bring in Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha in the summer.

Bournemouth are braced to lose their star player – a situation they are very familiar with following the exits of Illia Zabarnyi and Dean Huijsen to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid respectively in the summer. And Ghana head coach Otto Addo has called on Semenyo to make the step up.

“He has done very well at Bournemouth, but with all the respect for Bournemouth and what they’re doing, surely it is natural for him to take the next step," he told The Athletic. “Whether it's in the winter or summer, it is a difference question but it won’t make a difference for us. I’m looking forward to him showing more of what he can to the world .”

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