Antoine Semenyo returns to former club Bournemouth with Manchester City on Tuesday, with the Blues chasing a vital victory in the Premier League title race
Antoine Semenyo has been getting a bit of grief from his former teammates in the build-up to Manchester City’s trip to his former club on Tuesday.
The Blues travel to Bournemouth still chasing a domestic treble after Semenyo proved the matchwinner in the FA Cup final against Chelsea. His improvised backheel flick settled the showpiece and now Semenyo and City will head to the south coast aiming to keep up the pressure on Arsenal.
The frontman only departed the Vitality Stadium in January, and has lifted two trophies since moving to the Etihad. City have not lost domestically since Semenyo’s Premier League debut at Old Trafford, while Bournemouth are unbeaten since his departure and chasing a European place. Something will have to give on Tuesday.
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“I was the problem,” joked Semnyo. “I am happy they are doing so well and hopefully they get into Europe too. It’s going to be tough. They’ve got something to fight for so they’re going to make it tough for us.
“It won’t be weird going back. It’ll be good to see everyone again. I still speak to them every day, to be honest, they’ve been giving me a lot of cr*p, just like they’re going to kick me and this and that but it’ll be good to see them all.
“And obviously, it’s going to be a tough game. So I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we win.”
Semenyo has joined a City side used to winning. After a tough campaign last season, the Blues have returned two trophies this term and the new-look squad will hope to kick on and claim more silverware in the future, regardless of whether they can overhaul Arsenal over the final two matches of the campaign.
For Semenyo, it’s been a whirlwind few months.
“It’s been surreal, to be honest,” he added. “Everything’s just happened so quickly. But again, when you come to the team in January, you have to adapt as quick as you can and do the best for the team. So I’m happy I’m doing so.
“I think the last five months have been so intense, so many games and expectations are high.
“When you’re playing around top players, you naturally have to be on your toes and on it every single day. So that’s what they give you and they make it easy for you, especially us wingers.
“They are top players getting on the ball, dictating the play, and it makes it easier for us, creates a lot of one vs one situations and that’s essentially what wingers want. We bounce off each other every day on the pitch and off the pitch.
“When you have top pros who have won it all essentially, you just learn a lot and it rubs off on you a little bit. We just have to focus on what we’re doing and see what happens by the end of next week.
“We’ll just focus on us. We’re not focused on Arsenal and what they do. We just have to win our games and apply pressure the best way we can.”
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