An official announcement came Friday morning Antoine Semenyo (£7.6m), one of the most owned players in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL), has switched clubs, completing a move to Manchester City.
Still in 5.6 million selections, after an earlier peak of 7.9 million, the early January release clause in Semenyo’s Bournemouth contract was used as a starting point for negotiations.
Man City have agreed a £64million deal for the newly 26-year-old, which is better structured from their side.
We’ll take a look at his FPL prospects during this Moving Target piece, which includes data from our Members area.
HISTORY
Born in the early days of a new millennium, Semenyo moved on loan to Bath City, Newport County and Sunderland in his early career before breaking through at Bristol City.
| SEASON | CLUB | DIVISION | BEGINS (CONTINUED) | OBJECTIVES | STAFF | FPL POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 (so far) | Bournemouth | Premier League | 20 (0) | 10 | 5 | 120 |
| 2024/25 | Bournemouth | Premier League | 36 (1) | 11 | 7 | 165 |
| 2023/24 | Bournemouth | Premier League | 25 (8) | 8 | 4 | 107 |
| 2022/23 | Bournemouth | Premier League | 2 (9) | 1 | 0 | 18 |
| 2022/23 | Bristol city | Championship | 11 (12) | 6 | 2 | – |
| 2021/22 | Bristol city | Championship | 24 (7) | 8 | 12 | – |
Named the Robins’ Young Player of the Year 2020/21, his next campaign produced 20 goals in 31 appearances.
Further impressed with the first half of 2022/2023, Bournemouth bought him for around £10m in January.
Semenyo really got into the FPL mindset in 2024/25, a season in which he scored 11 goals and seven assists.
He finished second for touches in the box (212), third for attempts (125, see image below) and third for shots in the box (85), although the quality of his efforts wasn’t great. Only 13.6% were high chances (17). Only from those with more than 75 shots Matheus Cunha (£8.2 million), God bless you (£7.3 million) and Bruno Fernandes (£9.1 million) had a worse percentage of this.
An average of 0.08 expected goals (xG) per attempt made him frustrating to own at times, as did bouts of poor and then good form. But a Gameweek 38 brace against Leicester City produced a final 16-point haul.
SEASON SO FAR
This continued until the opening night of 2025/26 at Anfield, where Semenyo scored two goals and fifteen points.
Towards the end of Gameweek 7 there were additional double digits against Brighton and Hove Albion and Fulham. Heading into that international break with six goals, three assists and 66 points, he was an essential choice.
However, there were no attacking returns between Gameweek 9 and 15, despite nine shots on target and eight chances created. He missed a penalty against Aston Villa as the Cherries found themselves in an eleven-match winless run.
This dry period made us wonder if it was time to sell Semenyo. But Ghana’s failure to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) left the winger’s Christmas presence behind, where form has picked up again.
Four goals in six games, including Wednesday evening’s winning farewell goal past Tottenham Hotspur.
Statistically, he is third in the league for goals (10) and FPL points (120). And while we score lower than before for touches (91, twelfth), attempts (49, sixth) and box shots (37, seventh), we see a clear focus on improved quality rather than quantity.
His xG per shot is better (0.14), up 20.4% from big chances, and he ranks third for effort on goal (27, see image above).
WHERE DOES SEMENYO FIT WITH MAN CITY?
This is the big question as Semenyo has moved from the right flank to the left flank in recent years. His excellent half of the season was largely from the left, but there was also a similar one-on-one dribbler Jeremy Doku (£6.4m) calls home. Before a recent blow, the Belgian assisted six times in nine starts, adding another in Gameweek 21.
Above: an image of The Athletics shows Semenyo’s gradual shift to the left
Left is where part of it Phil Foden‘s (£8.7m) best days have also happened. Throw in Omar Marmoush (£8.3 million) plus the now injured Savinho (£6.9m), and Semenyo could actually be deployed on the right.
Indeed, Pep Guardiola spoke about versatility when asked about him at Friday’s FA Cup press conference.
“Everyone knows his qualities, right? He played exceptionally at Bournemouth and can play on both sides – right, left – he uses both legs incredibly. He can also play as a striker, with his pace, and he knows the Premier League.” – Pep Guardiola
Since the start of the 2024/25 season, he is one of two Premier League players to score at least eight goals with both his left and right boots. So Semenyo is truly bipedal.
“He has enormous quality. Two great feet, pace, power, a habit of influencing games and, most importantly, real room for growth and development.
“We are constantly monitoring players from all over the world. Antoine was the one we wanted most. He has shown he can perform in the Premier League. He is humble, hardworking, professional and completely focused on becoming a better footballer. He is ideal for us.” – Man City football director Hugo Viana
He is good at pressing and brings explosiveness to an evolving team that now likes to score from fast breaks.
Yet there is also an end product that can lighten the burden Erling Haaland (£15.1 million). Until the Foden chaos started from Gameweek 13, Haaland was the only Man City player to score more than one league goal – fourteen in fact.
Another tool that Semenyo brings is long throws. It’s not something his new side use often, but it is another possible route to goals in this title race. The Ghanaian currently ranks fifth in terms of throws into the penalty area (47), 11 of which have been successful.
WILL PEP EASE ARRIVE IN JANUARY?
Let’s see if the FA Cup match provides any clues as to how Guardiola plans to use him. The manager has confirmed that Semenyo will be in the squad against Exeter City on Saturday, with an EFL Cup match also taking place before the next deadline.
He thinks the tactical adjustment will happen very quickly, but says this is a long-term purchase.
“To understand that he is not coming here for one, two or three games. He has been coming here for many years, so he has all the time in the world. I know he is an exceptional guy that we have. The team will embrace him because this particular group of players and club will make people so comfortable when they arrive. He will adapt quickly.” – Pep Guardiola
Needing to break a horrendous winter form, Pep turned to players like Marmoush, Nico González (£5.9 million) and Abdukodir Khusanov (£5.4 million) in January 2025.
Marmoush started just two days after arriving from the Bundesliga and played in the first five league lineups. Although he kept getting away between the 72nd and 77th minute. In the same way, Nico started all the first six.
And although Khusanov made a huge debut error and was unused in the next match, he played all 90 minutes of the next five.
REASONS TO SELL SEMENYO
So, armed with Premier League experience, Semenyo could easily go straight into the Gameweek 22 derby starting XI. After all, he only scored for Manchester United a few weeks ago.
But instead of being a talisman, he is now part of a buffet that will deny him the guaranteed 90 minutes of his Bournemouth era. In the 20 games this season, his only two removals came in second-half stoppage time.
While Man City are fighting on four fronts and have excellent attacking depth. Pep Roulette, anyone?
Of course, FPL managers who went into Gameweek 21 with both Semenyo and three Man City signings have a decision to make. Their next transfer MUST be one of these four.
More than nine million also own Haaland. Is there really any desire for a second or third Cityzens striker after Gameweek 23’s trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers?
REASONS TO LOVE SEMENYO
Alternatively, others may have the opposite thought about play time. Three straight draws have left Guardiola’s side six points behind Arsenal, so he can’t waste any more time.
Throw Semenyo with ten goals in the Manchester derby and give him the chance to cement a spot on the right or left flank.
Even if he is suddenly limited to 60 or 70 minutes, it is ahead of the league’s highest scorers, alongside the likes of Haaland, Foden and Rayan Cherki (£6.8 million).
CONCLUSION
On the surface, this is one of FPL’s best players joining a winning team, immediately surrounded by a higher quality teammate. And he remains at £7.6m.
We saw last January with Marmoush, Nico and Khusanov that Pep is not afraid to immediately start his mid-season signings, and they came from abroad.
However, aside from Man City’s current defensive issues, they have excellent attacking depth. Enough to rotate across four competitions. Maybe Semenyo will start the first few, but their schedule will intensify later.
There are also some attractive substitutions, such as Morgan Rogers (£7.6 million), Declan Rice (£7.3 million), Bruno Guimaraes (£7.2 million), Enzo Fernandez (£6.4 million) and Harry Wilson (£5.8 million).
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