Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo is expected to attract major interest in the January transfer window
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has declared he does not want to lose in-demand Antoine Semenyo during the January transfer window as Liverpool continue to be linked with the winger. Semenyo is expected to attract significant interest in the New Year with a number of clubs reportedly courting the signature of the 26-year-old.
Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are all said to be tracking the London-born Ghana international, with Chelsea having this week also emerged as contenders.
Liverpool have been long-time admirers of the 25-year-old and have close links with Bournemouth, where sporting director Richard Hughes worked on the recruitment staff and as technical director having had two spells at the Cherries as a player.
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It’s understood Semenyo has a release clause in his contract of £65million which will become active on January 1.
But speaking ahead of Bournemouth’s game against Brentford this weekend, boss Iraola is not considering an imminent departure for the player.
“Antoine Semenyo right now is with us,” said Iraola on Tuesday afternoon. “He has trained today with us, very well.
“I understand that there is a lot of noise around Antoine. But my concern is that it doesn’t affect him, his performances and we are seeing that it is not affecting his performances. He is very committed to the team and I hope we can keep him there.
“There are situations that we cannot control, but right now, Antoine is our player and he’s going to continue playing for us.
“If you ask me, I don’t want to lose him, definitely don’t want to lose him. But like we always say, every time the market opens, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Semenyo, who can play on either flank, has eight goals in 16 Premier League games and scored twice in Bournemouth’s 4-2 defeat at Liverpool on the opening weekend.
And Iraola added: “Antoine, for me, has been performing very well. Not just the last two games because he has scored. The level of consistency has been very good since the beginning of the season.
“He has had moments where he hasn’t scored and has still been very valuable for us. At the end, we demand not only the numbers, but he gives us a lot of things. It’s no secret he is a massive player for us.”
Liverpool are grappling with selection issues in attack at present with Alexander Isak ruled out for a number of months with a fractured leg, Mohamed Salah not expected to be back for a month due to Africa Cup of Nations Duty and Cody Gakpo having recently been absent with a muscle problem.
