Why Antoine Semenyo has rejected Man Utd for Man City

Suraj Radia

• 24 Dec 2025 10:01 CST
• 4 min read

Nieuws

Fabrizio Romano has given an insight into Antoine Semenyo’s decision to reject Manchester United for rivals Manchester City in a blockbuster January transfer from Bournemouth.

Semenyo has a release clause worth £65 million (€74m) in his contract at Bournemouth which led to interest from United, City, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea, however it was revealed on Tuesday that the player has chosen to move to Pep Guardiola’s side.

Romano revealed that Semenyo is now ‘expected’ to become a new Man City player, having rejected the opportunity to move to Old Trafford even after being offered a role in Ruben Amorim’s attack despite reports that he could be signed as a wing-back.

“Manchester United, in the conversations they had with Semenyo, made clear that they were even prepared to change the system to welcome him to the club. So Semenyo was not going to play wing back,” Romano said on YouTube.

“The idea of Man United was even to open doors to a different system with Semenyo up front. But, despite an important financial effort and despite their tactical effort to welcome Semenyo, they did not get the green light from him.”

Romano added: “The reaction from Man Utd is ‘okay, we tried our best.’ Amorim has indicated that they only want players who want to be at the club. They had a feeling that maybe Semenyo was not convinced because, trust me, United in the last week have been pushing like crazy. Like crazy.”

Antoine Semenyo: Why Bournemouth star was ‘immediately convinced’ by Man City transfer

Romano also gave insight into why deals with other clubs broke down and how City ended up winning the race for Semenyo, whose release clause is only valid until January 10.

Semenyo was not interested in joining Tottenham despite the club’s willingness to meet the release clause in full, while Liverpool never formalised their interest even with Alexander Isak’s long-term injury.

Chelsea had made an enquiry to Semenyo’s representatives over a deal but conversations between the pair left both parties having ‘no feeling’ according to Romano, leading to neither looking to proceed with formal talks.

City, meanwhile, presented Semenyo with their vision, with Guardiola approving the move, and the club pushed to get a deal done quickly, with the player also ‘immediately convinced’.

Negotiations will now be held with Bournemouth over the structure of the deal but Romano revealed things could still change.

“Until the deal is signed and completed, we have to be careful until the very end because in this kind of crazy sagas, anything can always happen,” Romano said.

“Maybe one of these clubs can try to return in the race, can try to convince the player, never say never. But as of tonight, Man City have the preference of Semenyo.”

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