Antoine Semenyo will hold his medical at Manchester City on Thursday, with the agreement for his £65m transfer from AFC Bournemouth now sealed.
Fabrizio Romano reports that Manchester City now have an agreement to sign Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth for £65m, the value of his release clause with the south coast club.
City will pay the £65m by January 10th, which is the day the release clause expires, with Semenyo to hold his medical on Thursday.
In the meantime, Semenyo will play for Bournemouth against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night, and he’ll certainly want to avoid injury given the tight turnaround to complete his transfer by this weekend.
It’s been clear for a while that Semenyo was going to join City, with the player making his decision before the January transfer window opened, and City evidently willing to pay his £65m release clause.
Yet David Ornstein reports for The Athletic that City agreed to allow Semenyo to play against Chelsea, Arsenal, and Spurs before completing the transfer.
Perhaps that was a gesture of goodwill to help along any negotiations over the details of the transfer, or maybe City were hoping Semenyo might take a few points off their big-six rivals.
If it was the latter, it hasn’t worked out too well so far, with Arsenal beating Bournemouth anyway and Manchester City dropping points to Chelsea without Semenyo in their squad. City will now also have to face Brighton on Wednesday night without Semenyo.
Semenyo’s first opportunity to play for Pep Guardiola’s side could be on Saturday, with City facing Exeter City in the third round of the FA Cup. Perhaps it’s more likely Semenyo will make his debut in the League Cup semi-final first leg away to Newcastle United next Tuesday.
Either way, Semenyo’s first Premier League game in a Manchester City shirt is set to be the Manchester derby, with City travelling to Old Trafford on January 17th.