Inside Antoine Semenyo transfer: Man Utd’s lowball offer sent Bournemouth star to City

Robin Bairner

2 Jan 2026 15:04 GMT
4 min read

From details of Antoine Semenyo’s agreement with Manchester City to the reasons why he turned Manchester United down in the summer, FootballTransfers in conjunction with the Transfers Podcast brings you all the background to the January mega deal.

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Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo is likely to be one of the biggest stories of the January transfer window, with the Ghana international star poised to move to Manchester City within days.

The 26-year-old had his pick of Premier League clubs but, as revealed by Duncan Castles on the Transfers Podcast, turned Man Utd down when he learned how the club valued him in comparison to their other stars.

Current ETV

Antoine Semenyo

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B'mouth

Antoine Semenyo

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B'mouth

ETV Range

€46.2M - €56.5M

Why Antoine Semenyo rejected Manchester United

Castles revealed that the Red Devils had offered Semenyo a lower basic wage than Matheus Cunha, which he took exception to.

“As we discussed in the podcast in September, Ruben Amorim met Semenyo in person to assess his character,” he said.

“United had agreed personal terms with the player only for Semenyo to discover that their salary offer to him was significantly less than what they’d given Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha. This allowed Bournemouth to persuade the player to sign a new contract with a release clause.”

© IMAGO - Antoine Semenyo celebrates scoring against Man Utd at Old Trafford

How Bournemouth’s release clause opened the door for Manchester City

In turn, this £65 million release clause has been the catalyst for Manchester City picking January to make their move for the former Bristol City star. They had to beat a string of top teams to win the race for the player, though.

“Pretty much all the top clubs in the Premier League have tried to exploit it,” Castles said. “Manchester United came back in. Chelsea enquired. Liverpool looked at time. Tottenham made an offer and failed again because he decided Manchester City was the most attractive club to move to.”

When will Antoine Semenyo complete his Manchester City transfer?

Semenyo’s move to Manchester City, meanwhile, is quite literally a matter of time.

But Castles revealed on the Transfers Podcast that Bournemouth expect the wideman to be available for their upcoming fixtures against Arsenal and Spurs due to the terms of his release clause.

“I understand that Bournemouth expect to keep the player for the next two games,” he added. “The clause is valid for the first 10 days of January only, and they’re running it to the end of the clause before allowing him to go to another club.”

Bournemouth’s plans after Antoine Semenyo exit

With Semenyo on his way out of the club, Castles revealed that there are several areas they could look to recruit for, but they missed out on Tottenham attacker Brennan Johnson.

He commented: “It’s a reflection of where Bournemouth are. Having reached the heights of second place in the Premier League early in the season, with Semenyo delivering a lot of the goals, they’ve dropped down to an area where there is now concern that they need to recruit.

“They’ve tried for Brennan Johnson as a direct replacement but he decided to move to Crystal Palace instead. They’re not, I’m told, looking at Ethan Nwaneri as has been reported but do want a forward and are also looking for a left-footed centre-back as a successor to Marcos Senesi, who’s out of contract and admired by Barcelona.

“And there are some concerns over the performance of goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, so maybe not impossible that they look to improve that area of the pitch as well.”