Antoine Semenyo could not have made his qualities more obvious to Liverpool on the very first day of the new season.
The Reds had been linked with a move for the Bournemouth man before he signed a new deal on the south coast during the summer.
There have since been suggestions that Liverpool regret not signing Semenyo ahead of him putting pen to paper, and he showed them why at Anfield in August.
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The 25-year-old hit two excellent goals as Bournemouth threatened to spoil the champions’ return to action on opening night.
Since then, Semenyo has continued to look like a man ready for a big move. Having hit six Premier League goals already this season, the former Bristol City winger is once again attracting interest from some of the division’s top clubs.
Recently, it was reiterated that Liverpool are strongly interested in Semenyo, and journalist Mark Douglas has now explained why the Reds could be willing to bring a move forward to the January transfer window.
Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty ImagesLiverpool trying to beat the competition to Antoine Semenyo
Despite signing two headline centre-forwards this summer, some Liverpool supporters were disappointed that a direct replacement for Luis Diaz did not arrive.
Semenyo is exactly the kind of player those fans were hoping for, and Douglas says that the presence of a release clause in his Bournemouth contract could be what brings Liverpool’s interest forward to January.
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“They’ve managed to sign him up to this new contract but there is the release clause in there,” the journalist tells The Anfield Wrap.
“What’s key is that we don’t know the official terms of the release clause, but I’m told that it may be the case that Liverpool and a couple of other clubs as well will look at January as a potential to get him before it goes into a bit of an open market in the summer. But his release clause may be there in January as well, I don’t have that information at the moment. He isn’t going to be at the £70-75m mark in the summer because of the release clause, it will be less.”
Douglas also claims that ‘the word on the grapevine’ within football recruitment circles is that Liverpool will sign Semenyo with the remit to challenge Mohamed Salah for a place in the starting XI.
“It may be that they’re looking to bring him in to pressurise Mo Salah, that’s the word on the grapevine,” he says.
“That’s not coming from Liverpool by the way! They may contend that that’s not true, but that seems to be the suggestion in the recruitment circles I’m moving in and that’s why they’re interested. The story for me this week is that they may push the button in January.”
Liverpool could repeat Luis Diaz trick
Douglas goes on to say that Liverpool’s move for Semenyo could be reminiscent of the deal they pulled off to sign Diaz in January 2022.
Liverpool swooped in to beat Tottenham to Diaz after learning that the Colombian could be on his way to North London.
It sounds as though the Reds could repeat the trick with Semenyo in an attempt to get ahead of clubs looking to strike a cheaper agreement in the summer.
In doing so, Liverpool may have to pay a premium on the Ghanaian, which could no longer represent value for money.
But if the Reds are unwilling to wait and battle other clubs for Semenyo, it likely means they are convinced he is the right player to add yet more quality to their front line.