Manchester City travel to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night
Antoine Semenyo scored on his debut for Manchester City against Exeter (Image: )
Antoine Semenyo made an instant impression on his Manchester City debut. The £62.5million man scored and assisted as the Blues ran riot against League One side Exeter City in the FA Cup third round last weekend.
The 26-year-old went straight into the side despite only having one training session with his new team-mates after ratifying his move on Friday. Pep Guardiola has been pleased with his new arrival’s impact in the limited time in Manchester.
“The impression is what he has done in Bournemouth for many years,” said Guardiola. “He’s a really nice guy and in a few actions he showed what he showed at Bournemouth and hopefully he can continue to do here.”
City’s hectic January continues this week with a trip to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup. The first leg of the semi-final is on Tuesday night with the return at the Etihad early next month.
Semenyo featured in the Carabao Cup for previous club Bournemouth earlier this season. The Cherries were knocked out of the Carabao Cup this season at the first time of asking, playing a rotated team and losing 2-0 at home to fellow Premier League side Brentford. Semenyo came on for the second half but was unable to stop his side from falling to defeat.
That would have ruled him out of featuring for City in any other season, but there has been a change in the Carabao Cup introduced this year that eases the cup-tie stipulation. Rule 6.4 has been amended to now read that players can represent two clubs in the same season if they move during the course of the campaign.
That means Semenyo is available to take on Newcastle and could well make his second start for his new club in the north east.
