Antoine Semenyo looked bright pretty often during his two seasons at Bournemouth, which is why a number of the Premier League’s contenders came calling during the recent transfer window.
One of those was Chelsea, which is hardly surprising given that Semenyo was born in the Chelsea district of London (though he plays for Ghana). However, the Blues pulled out of the transfer race mere hours after making an initial inquiry because they felt they already had sufficient attackers for the campaign, and so Manchester City signed the winger.
How they must wish now that they had stuck with the pursuit for longer. With City struggling to create much against Salford City in this weekend’s FA Cup tie, their offense looked instantly transformed after the 65th minute, when Semenyo subbed in for Phil Foden. City’s attack became much more dangerous, and Semenyo’s direct play made Foden look quite poor by comparison.
Of course, a brilliant showing against a League Two side doesn’t mean much in itself, especially to a trophy-hunting club like City. However, his Saturday match was no flash in the pan. In only nine games so far for City, Semenyo has scored five goals and provided two assists. That is a blistering rate for a player who has needed no time adjusting to his new team. Even if Semenyo figures to cool off at some point, the $81.7 million fee that City paid to bring him out of Bournemouth looks like cash well spent.
Chelsea probably regrets not signing Antoine Semenyo
Chelsea have had no trouble throwing money around under their current ownership, and might have at least matched City’s offer as well as tempting him with the prospect of playing near his old neighborhood.
Instead, the Blues figured their offense was set for the season. It’s true that Estêvão has been excellent so far for the West London club, but many Blues fans would have preferred seeing Semenyo starting at the other wing position ahead of Pedro Neto and Alejandro Garnacho.Â
Perhaps the rumors are true, and Semenyo simply decided from the beginning that City was a better situation for himself than Chelsea was. If that’s the case, then there probably wasn’t much that the Blues could have done differently.
Yet seeing him find the net in wins over the likes of Fulham and Spurs must make Chelsea fans wish they could have seen the Ghanaian danger man in a deeper shade of blue.