Man City have a bigger talent than Semenyo in “Rashford-like” 17-year-old

Manchester City will pray that Arsenal run out of steam at the top of the Premier League, as the exciting season heads into 2026.

Pep Guardiola‘s men can’t do much more as they compete with the well-drilled Gunners in the unfolding title race, with City deep in an eight-game winning run at the moment, as Rayan Cherki handed the travelling faithful a late Christmas present in a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest last time out.

Unfortunately, Arsenal are also just finding consistent ways to seal victories, as a fascinating tussle ensues.

City could well feel they have an upper hand over Mikel Arteta’s formidable foes; however, if they can seal a deal for AFC Bournemouth ace Antoine Semenyo in January, with the versatile attacker proving to be a real handful for Premier League defences to try and thwart this campaign.

How Semenyo would fit in at City

Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United have all thrown their hat into the ring for the much-talked-about Ghanaian, but it looks as if Guardiola’s men are the clear frontrunners now for the electric number 24’s £65m signature, with Sky Sports reporting that talks are expected to speed up this week to wrap up a statement deal.

Immediately, City’s attack would be enhanced by Semenyo’s arrival, with a stunning nine league goals falling into the 25-year-old’s lap this season already.

With Erling Haaland and the aforementioned Cherki also by his side, City could bulldoze teams on the way to yet another Premier League triumph.

But the only head-scratching element of the deal could come when trying to fit the standout Premier League talent into the City XI, with Semenyo capable of playing all across the forward positions as a left or right winger, and even as a centre-forward option.

Looking at his blistering time on the South Coast to date, the former Bristol City attacker’s joy has mainly come from lining up as a right winger, with a sublime 16 goal contributions next to his name from 40 appearances, as Semenyo routinely terrorises anyone in his path.

Yet, he might not be instantly handed the first team reins here at the Etihad, owing to Cherki’s seven goal contributions down the right, with a spot on the left-hand side perhaps where he’ll reside, instead.

It will be fascinating to see how Guardiola accommodates his big-money signing, if he does end up swapping the Cherries for the serial trophy winners, with the Catalan coach also keeping an eye on a homegrown star at City, who could be a Semenyo-style talent in the making.

Man City already have a bigger talent than Semenyo

Of course, while Semenyo is rightly being heralded as a “world-class” performer right now by his Bournemouth teammate Justin Kluivert, his career has been something of a slow burner.

Indeed, while he does sit on the cusp of a major switch to the Etihad, back when he was 18 years of age, Semenyo was struggling to make an impact out on loan at Newport County in League Two, with his first Championship goal at Ashton Gate not coming his way until he was 21.

Whereas, when it comes to Reigan Heskey in youth circles at City right now, he looks ready for Premier League opportunities at just 17 years of age, with one of his coaches in the U21 set-up in Ben Wilkinson stating that he has an “unbelievable chance to be a top player” if his red-hot numbers for the U18s and U21s are anything to go by.

Already, he has a stunning 30 goals from 36 games as a left winger option, leading to Wilkinson, again, lauding him as “outrageous.”

He has even further been noted as being “Rashford-like” for his ability to stretch a defence and then fire away chances for fun by scout Ben Mattinson, with Guardiola also clearly a fan, having handed him his senior Citizens debut earlier this season in the EFL Cup.

Semenyo does clearly have an advantage in being a recognised top-flight-calibre performer, but it’s clear from his outrageous clips, which includes this sublime solo effort being fired home with ease versus Real Madrid last month, that Heskey is already going down the path of being capable of surpassing the 25-year-old.

Heskey has also shown off a versatility – similar to that of Semenyo – from his breakneck minutes in the youth set-up, when lining up irregularly as a right winger or as a lone striker, with a lot already expected of the teenage sensation.

It will likely be some time before the Liverpool-born starlet is a figure Guardiola knows he can rely on week in week out, but down the line, he could go on to be an even more explosive talent to feast your eyes on than the £65m arrival of Semenyo.

Related

Man City submit £70m offer for “spectacular” star with Pep personally keen

City have tabled a huge bid for a new forward