Manchester United had reportedly made concrete steps to sign Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth, but the deal eventually collapsed after some interesting developments.
The Red Devils revamped their attacking department almost entirely, offloading Jadon Sancho, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund, while bringing in Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko.
While the MUFC supporters have been excited about the new attacking trio, they would have been even more delighted had the club succeeded in the Semenyo pursuit.
Ruben Amorim was keen to recruit Antoine Semenyo
The London native is an explosive winger with an eye for goal who has been described as a ‘maverick’ for his flashy style of play. He began his career at Bristol City before moving to Bournemouth in January 2023.
Like Mbuemo and Cunha, the Ghanaian international is coming off a spectacular campaign, netting 13 goals and providing seven assistss in all competitions. He also managed to pick up where he left off, bagging an astonishing brace against Liverpool on the opening day of the season, even though it wasn’t enough to earn the Cherries a result at Anfield.
Hence, Ruben Amorim was bewitched by the 25-year-old. As football journalist Duncan Castels revealed on The Transfers Podcast, the Portuguese manager dined with the winger in London in an attempt to sway him over.
In the meantime, Man United CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Jason Wilcox opened talks with Bournemouth officials, offering £55 million.
Why Semenyo preferred to stay at Bournemouth rather than joining Man United
While this is the same opening bid Man Utd initially proposed in their talks with Wolves (for Cunha) and Brentford (for Mbeumo), Semenyo apparently discovered that he was being offered only 70% of the salary given to his Brazilian and Cameroonian counterparts.
Therefore, the Ghanaian decided to make a U-turn and pen a five-year contract with Bournemouth, thus putting himself off the market.
| Stats in 2024/25 | Club | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| Matheus Cunha | Wolves | 36 | 17 | 6 |
| Bryan Mbeumo | Brentford | 42 | 20 | 9 |
| Antoine Semenyo | Bournemouth | 42 | 13 | 7 |
Castels adds that the feeling at Bournemouth was that Man Utd didn’t necessarily target Semenyo as an alternative for either Cunha or Mbeumo, as they had suggested, but that the Red Devils were instead open to signing all three forwards.
Only time will tell if the Bristol youth product made the right call with his stern rejection of MUFC, while a rekindling of the flame in the future can never be completely ruled out.
