Manchester United and Manchester City are firmly in the race to sign Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo in January.
Sky Sports is reporting that Spurs are also chasing the 25-year-old, but Pep Guardiola‘s City are considered the front runners by some.
Semenyo has a £65 million release clause in his contract, which becomes active on January 1.
Liverpool are also said to be in the ‘background’ with an interest in the Ghana international. Mohamed Salah‘s situation at the club may influence their thinking.
Semenyo has scored seven goals in 15 games this season including a strike against Man United on Monday night.
Sky Sports reports that United have held a long-time interest in Semenyo, and news of his release clause has caused them to genuinely consider making a move.
The club hadn’t planned to spend big in January, and money, as with all Premier League clubs these days, is a factor.
They are not currently at risk of breaching the PSR regulations, spending £65m, particularly if it’s a flat fee, could have serious repercussions on what they can afford to spend in the summer, where strengthening their midfield is the absolute priority.
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Man United’s attacking options did improve last summer after they spent £71m on Bryan Mbeumo and £62.5m on Matheus Cunha.
Both men have made an impact at Old Trafford, but Semenyo could bring the added dynamism that Ruben Amorim seeks.
Still, with Casemiro 34 in February, Man United know they need to find a top-level defensive midfielder with Carlos Baleba and Adam Wharton on their shortlist – and they will cost.
For City, Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden have been playing wide for the majority of this season with Rayan Cherki making progress recently.
Savinho – who nearly moved to Spurs last August – Oscar Bobb and Omar Marmoush have mostly been on the outside looking in.
Semenyo would offer any prospective suitor pace, skill and power from the wide areas with a proven eye for goal.
When considering his age and statistics, £65m is good market value in this day and age – as crazy as that sounds.
Bournemouth made around £208m in player sales this summer and only spent £100m. Raking in another £65m would be great, but it would surely leave them needing to do some business to replace Semenyo.
They sit 13th in the Premier League table.