A former chief scout of a Premier League club has revealed that Antoine Semenyo has emerged as a top target for one of Tottenham’s Premier League rivals.
Given that Semenyo has a £65m release clause in his contract, the Bournemouth winger has, unsurprisingly, become one of the most sought-after signings of the January window.
It has been widely reported over recent weeks that Tottenham have intensified their pursuit of the Cherries star.
Until the last few days, it had been claimed that Man City and Liverpool are Spurs’ main challengers for Semenyo, but another club have been backed to enter the race.
Man United plotting a move for Tottenham target Antoine Semenyo
Former Man United chief scout Mick Brown has now revealed that the 25-year-old is also one of the prime January targets for Man United.
However, he pointed out that the Red Devils are also pushing ahead with a move for Elliot Anderson, and he expressed doubts about whether they can pull off both deals in the same transfer window.
Brown told Football Insider about United’s transfer objectives: “Semenyo is the one they’ve been looking at. United need to spend in January to improve the squad, and he’s somebody they wanted to bring in during the summer before he signed that contract. If the opportunity comes up when the window opens, it would make a lot of sense because he would also be able to plug that hole left by Mbeumo.
“You’re looking at people like Semenyo and Elliot Anderson to come in, they’re the top targets for Amorim because both of them would be real improvements in key areas of the squad. They’d plug gaps where there might otherwise be problems, add energy and drive to the team, and help United take steps towards being successful again.
“They would need to spend something like £170million on those two players to turn them into a team that can compete for silverware and at the top level. Personally, I can’t see that happening, but they are interested in signing both of them and if it can be done in January, then perhaps they will.
“There will be other teams interested too, so it wouldn’t be easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I think they’re both players they need.”
Spurs are falling behind in the race for Semenyo
It looks certain that the winger will be off sooner rather than later, with even the Ghana head coach suggesting recently that Semenyo is ready to make a big move.
However, several sources have reported over recent weeks that Tottenham are behind both Man City and Liverpool in the race for the Bournemouth man.
In fact, it was claimed a couple of weeks ago by TEAMtalk that Spurs are identifying alternatives to Semenyo as they are fearful of losing out to Liverpool in the race for the winger’s signature.