Manchester United are reportedly “fast-tracking preparations” to sign the Premier League star winger in January, ahead of Liverpool and other big clubs.
United’s attack has improved from last season’s old options. No player has scored more than 10 goals in the Premier League, and striker options Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Heilund have both performed very poorly.
Newcomer Benjamin Sesko is coming into his own, as is wideman Matheus Cunha, while Brian Mbeumo was named Premier League Player of the Month for October.
All three of the aforementioned forwards joined the club in the summer, with United also interested in signing Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth at the time.
He scored 11 goals and provided six assists in the Premier League last season, and this season he has six goals and three assists in 11 games.
United have expressed renewed interest in Semenyo ahead of January, with Catch Offside reporting that they “want to move quickly to see off” competition from Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal.
If reports are to be believed, it’s probably the Reds they should fear most.
It was recently claimed that a £70m offer would be made for Semenho at Anfield, but transfer insider Fabrizio Romano has suggested that a move is unlikely to materialize in the winter.
He said: “I don’t think it will be a mid-season departure, and I don’t think it will happen at Liverpool either. I think Liverpool will be very quiet in January. It might be different in the summer. I don’t think it will be a mid-season departure.”
“I still want to respect Bournemouth and let the players enjoy themselves. It’s only November and they don’t plan on him leaving in January.”
“It’s a very interesting situation because there’s a lot of interest in this player and there’s a release clause, but I think it’s in the summer. As for January, it’s very unlikely.”
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A release clause in his contract in the summer suggests it would make the most sense for the club to make an offer then, knowing what it would cost to make a move for Semenyo happen.
Furthermore, the Cherries are unlikely to budge on a winger now, even if that was the case last season.
There was interest in Dean Huysen, Ilya Zabarny and Milos Kerkes for much of last season, but Bournemouth held onto them solidly over the winter before selling them in the summer, giving them plenty of time to sort out their squad for this season, which has certainly helped them remain competitive.
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