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News
- 24 minutes ago
EXCLUSIVE: Man Utd 'aggressively targeted' Antoine Semenyo and agreed terms
Tom Weber
- Updated: 4 Sept 2025 18:53 BST
- 6 min read
Exclusive
The Transfers Podcast can reveal that Manchester United agreed terms with Bournemouth attacker Antoine Semenyo in the summer - and why the move collapsed.
LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE HERE
The Red Devils splashed the cash in recent months, despite heading into the transfer window on a reported budget of no more than €100 million. However, INEOS wanted to back Ruben Amorim after the worst Premier League season in club history and used their revolving credit facility to make signings.
More than €250m was spent on new recruits, with Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, Senne Lammens and Diego Leon arriving at Old Trafford.
Man Utd, for the most part, managed to secure their top targets, but not every deal came off. They had initially wanted Liam Delap due to his low cost, but were beaten to the punch by Chelsea and had to go for Sesko instead.
A move for Carlos Baleba did not materialise due to Brighton's not-for-sale stance. Danny Welbeck was also considered, while an approach for Conor Gallagher was rebuffed.
Man Utd had agreed Semenyo terms
The Transfers Podcast can now reveal that Man Utd also 'aggressively targeted' Bournemouth attacker Antoine Semenyo, even agreeing terms with the Ghana international.
However, Tottenham were also interested, which the Cherries used to drive up their asking price of the 25-year-old. The deal then came completely unstuck when Semenyo became privy to the fact that his salary at Old Trafford would have been significantly lower than Cunha's.
Host Duncan Castles revealed on the latest episode of The Transfers Podcast: "Antoine Semenyo at Bournemouth, we can tell you, was aggressively targeted by Man Utd, starting back in March.
"Both Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox had direct conversations with Bournemouth about signing the forward, who had scored 11 goals last season.
"During those conversations, United, I'm told, said they would pay no more than £55m for the player. They used the same strategy as with Cunha and Mbeumo in that they agreed personal terms with Semenyo before attempting to agree a fee with Bournemouth.
"They even had Amorim take him for a meal in London at the end of the season, so that Amorim could judge his character. Again, similar as to Cunha and Mbeumo.
"Tottenham were also interested in signing the player, and Bournemouth used that to insist on a higher transfer fee and, after the Cunha deal, used that as a precedent on what they expected the transfer fee to at least meet.
"And then, I'm told, Semenyo discovered that the salary he had agreed with Man Utd was going to be less than 70 per cent of what they were prepared to pay Cunha and Mbeumo, and Bournemouth strategically used that to convince the player to sign a new contract until 2030, with the idea that he will spend at least one more season at Bournemouth before moving on to another club.
"Guidance from Man Utd is that they saw Semenyo as an alternative to either Cunha or Mbeumo, but Bournemouth believe that they were prepared to do all three of those deals."
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