Chelsea are not planning to pursue their interest in Antoine Semenyo after making a check on the Bournemouth winger. Semenyo, who is being targeted by Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool, has a £65m release clause in his contract that becomes active for a limited timeframe in January.
Chelsea have never been serious players in the race to sign Semenyo but they contacted the player’s camp to explore the conditions of a deal during the winter transfer window. The move was made simply due to a desire to find out what it would take to sign a forward who is being courted by some of the Premier League’s biggest teams.
However, it did not take long for Chelsea, who felt that Semenyo would have given their squad a different dimension, to decide against ramping up their interest. They have full faith in Enzo Maresca’s current collection of forwards. Maresca can choose from Cole Palmer, Jamie Gittens, Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho, Estêvão Willian, João Pedro and Facundo Buonanotte, who is on loan from Brighton
Semenyo, who has scored eight goals and provided three assists in the league this season, is not short of suitors and is weighing up his options. The 25-year-old is likely to be swayed by the quality of the sporting project on offer. It is believed that he has already rebuffed interest from Tottenham.
There is a feeling from clubs in the race that Semenyo is leaning towards picking City but the race remains open. Liverpool are light in attack after losing Alexander Isak to a broken leg, while United are keen to add more options in the final third.
Bournemouth will also be hopeful of keeping Semenyo for the rest of the season but have shown they are not averse to selling their best players.
“I understand that there is a lot of noise around Antoine,” Bournemouth’s manager, Andoni Iraola, said. “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.
“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.”
