Tottenham have been told it will take a club record fee to sign a rival Premier League attacker, and TEAMtalk looks into how he could usurp a summer signing in the Spurs side.
Spurs spent not far shy of £200million on new signings in the summer window. The main signings were Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons.
Both of those men have added to an attack which now has 11 goals in six Premier League games – a tally bettered by only three sides.
But there might have been even more goals had Antoine Semenyo signed from Bournemouth. Tottenham wanted him, though nothing concrete came of that.
Of late, though, they have again been linked with the forward, and according to Football Insider, he could cost £80million.
Insider Pete O’Rourke said: “It’ll be a difficult deal to do for a number of reasons. It’ll be difficult to do due to Bournemouth not looking to lose Semenyo.
“The price tag that will be on his head, it’ll be probably around £70-80 million plus, I think, for somebody like him.
“Also, it’ll be difficult to do because of the huge rival interest in Semenyo…it won’t just be Tottenham who are interested in him.”
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Could Semenyo usurp summer signing?
Semenyo’s recent form certainly suggests he could go for a big sum. In six Premier League games this term, he has four goals and two assists.
Only Erling Haaland has a better combined goals and assists tally in the league.
Semenyo’s time on the pitch has been almost equally split between the left and right flanks, with his heatmap from Sofascore showing he spends a lot of tie hugging the left touchline.
The site also suggests Semenyo is very good in a high press, something which would suit him well at Tottenham.
But his proficiency out wide left could see him usurp Tottenham summer signing Simons. The Dutchman has played the majority of his career as a No.10, but has mostly played on the left flank at Spurs, and has only one assist to show for it.
Fans feel he’d be better suited shifting back to the centre, and with a talent like Semenyo coming into the side to take the left wing position, that could beef up the creative options in all areas of the final third.
It could both see Semenyo continue to impress while unleashing Simons in his most comfortable role.
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