On 9th January 2026, Antoine Semenyo completed a £65M move to Manchester City, a club-record sale for AFC Bournemouth.
Semenyo had scored 10 goals and recorded three assists in 20 Premier League matches for the Cherries this season, outstanding numbers from the winger.
But the Ghanian international leaving came as a shock to no one. Rumours had been circulating of a release clause since November – leading to a host of top clubs expressing an interest.
It was City who won the race, beating the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. Working under Pep Guardiola was a big draw for Semenyo, as was the prospect of winning trophies this season. City are still in contention for the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup – so from Semenyo’s point of view, it was a no brainer to leave this January.
But from a Bournemouth perspective, having your most important player leave mid-way through the season is far from ideal. It’s not common for star players to leave in January, especially for a fee which some might consider to be below his true value.
Bournemouth fan Alex Horsley, who runs the largest TikTok AFCB fan account (@.upthecherries), is of the opinion that the release clause should have been higher. He said: “I don’t think we should’ve had a release clause in place that was so low, active in January.
“From a fan’s perspective, not the clubs perspective, it’s very annoying to lose such a key player at such a key time of the season and for a lot cheaper than I think what he’s probably worth.”
Semenyo signed a new contract with the club in the summer, putting an end to rumours he was set to leave. As it turns out, this contract was only signed so the release clause was present, allowing Semenyo a way out.
After an incredible start to the season, where he scored six goals in the first seven games, his form did stutter slightly, as did the team’s form. That is likely no coincidence.
But he sprung to life again, scoring four in his last six, despite the rumours in the background. Many expected Semenyo to leave on January 1st, but to his credit, he remained for as long as possible in order to help the struggling side.
His goal against Tottenham Hotspur in the 95th minute, winning the game with his final touch for the club, was an iconic way to bow out. He was deservedly serenaded off the pitch by fans, who were surely gutted to see him go.
But despite the club knowing of the release clause a long time in advance, there has yet to be much movement in terms of a Semenyo replacement. Any replacement will find it hard to live up to the heights of Semenyo, something acknowledged by manager Andoni Iraola.
After the move was confirmed, he said: “He is a big miss for us. He is a player you cannot replace.”
He followed: “We have to sign a winger. Antoine has played almost every minute with us so there is a hole we have to fill.
“Probably not with the same skills as Antoine, but the best player we can sign in the market.
“It’s a market that is not easy, because there are not a lot of players available, and no one wants to lose a good player in January.”
Ben Phillips, from the ‘Back of the Net’ Podcast, says he hopes the club will continue to follow their transfer model of recent times to try and find a replacement.
He said: “The summer transfer window was probably our worst in Bill Foley’s (the owner) history.
“But we have signed a lot of successful players in the past, hopefully we can make more astute signings.
“Our transfer model is signing players on the cheap, the young prodigies, and building them up.”
That is exactly what happened with Semenyo, who arrived from Bristol City in January 2023 for a fee of around £10M. He had a slow start to life at the club, scoring just one goal in his first half a season, but sprung to life under Iraola and soon became one of the first names on the team sheet on a weekly basis.
That form meant the big club’s would inevitably come knocking, and a club like Bournemouth are almost powerless to stop players from wanting to go onto ‘bigger clubs’.
This is something Phillips is very aware of, saying: “We are the smallest team in the Premier League. We will always be the smallest team in the Premier League for as long as we are here.
“We will never have the power over these bigger clubs, even if we become richer and are doing better on the pitch.
“We need to be humble, know our place in the food chain and keep on developing players in the way that we do.”
However, Horsley would like to see the club take a stronger stance in future January windows.
He said: “I definitely think we should stranger stronger on when we sell for example, not in January and definitely after we have identified a suitable replacement.
“But all you have to do is look at teams like Brighton and Brentford to see it’s so hard to keep hold of these unbelievable talents when clubs triple your size put offers in.”
Horsley is confident that the recruitment team will be able to find a suitable replacement, saying: “Given our recent history of scouting players, I’m sure we will be able to find the next big thing.”
19 year old Brazilian winger Rayan has been linked in the last day – you can read more about that here: https://buzz.bournemouth.ac.uk/2026/01/cherries-in-talks-for-brazilian-wonderkid-rayan/
He would fit the recruitment model, but is unlikely to be bought for cheap. However, an arrival of an exciting Brazilian would excite fans after the disappointing Semenyo news – Horsley said he would be ‘a good option’.
There were positives for Iraola last week against Newcastle United, where the club managed to score three goals from open play without Semenyo being involved. David Brooks, Marcus Tavernier and Alex Scott all scored despite not having contributed many goals between them this season (only five), and will need to keep that up to fill the void Semenyo has left.
Semenyo has started like a house on fire at Manchester City, scoring in both of his first two appearances, emphasising that his quality will be dearly missed at Bournemouth.
There is a way to go until the January window ends, but Iraola will need a chance to bed players in as quickly as possible.
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