Antoine Semenyo: Ghana Winger, Bournemouth Rise and Manchester City Move

In the summer of 2015, Crystal Palace sent Antoine Semenyo home after an eight-week trial. Eleven years later he is a Manchester City player with an FA Cup final winner on his record and a place in Ghana’s squad for a World Cup. Ghanaian fans were searching for him again this week after a night that went the other way: City lost 4–2 at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, and Semenyo was among the players who missed chances. His own reaction, as reported by GhanaSoccernet, was “I’m beating myself up”.

The long way round

Semenyo was born in England on 7 January 2000 and has Ghanaian heritage; he also holds French citizenship through his mother. Like many players his age, he began with trials, and most of them did not work. Arsenal, Tottenham and Millwall passed. Palace kept him for two months at the age of 15 and then let him go. He has described nearly giving up on the idea of a professional career before Dave Hockaday brought him into the youth programme at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (Wikipedia).

Even the route into Bristol City was modest. Before he joined their academy in September 2017 he spent a short period at Highworth Town in the Hellenic League, coming on for the last 13 minutes of an FA Cup preliminary-round tie against Marlow. That is about as far from the Etihad as English football gets.

Bristol City and the loan circuit

Semenyo signed his first professional contract in January 2018 and was sent to Bath City, where he scored six goals in 16 matches. A season-long loan to Newport County in League Two followed in 2018. It was there that he was moved from striker to the wing, the position that would define his career, and he played in the match in January 2019 in which Newport knocked Premier League Leicester City out of the FA Cup. Bristol City recalled him after 32 appearances.

A spell at Sunderland in early 2020 produced seven appearances and no goals, and then the pandemic ended the season. Back at Bristol City, he finally became a regular. In 2020–21 he played fifty competitive games and was named the club’s Young Player of the Year. The following season he registered eight goals and twelve assists in 32 games, and in January 2022 he won the EFL Championship Player of the Month award.

Bournemouth: from £10 million signing to a Premier League regular

Bournemouth signed him on 27 January 2023 for a reported £10 million, after two earlier offers had been rejected. He scored his first Premier League goal that April against Leeds and, over the next three years, became one of the league’s more reliable wide forwards. The 2023–24 season ended with eight goals and two assists from 33 appearances. In 2024–25 he reached eleven league goals, a personal best, including the opener in the 2–1 win over Manchester City at Dean Court in November 2024 that ended City’s eleven-month unbeaten league run.

He signed contract extensions with Bournemouth in July 2024 and again in July 2025, the latter running to 2030. Then 2025–26 started in a way no one expected. He scored twice at Anfield on the opening day, in a game Bournemouth eventually lost 4–2, and after seven league games he had six goals. He was also voted in the PFA Premier League Fans’ Player of the Month for September 2025.

His last Bournemouth appearance came on 7 January 2026, his 26th birthday, when he scored a last-minute winner against Tottenham.

Manchester City

Manchester City confirmed his signing on 9 January 2026 on a five-and-a-half-year contract, for a reported fee of £64 million. He made an immediate mark: a goal and an assist on his debut in a 10–1 FA Cup win over Exeter City, then the opening goal in the 2–0 win at Newcastle in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final. His first league goal for City came on 24 January against Wolves, and his form in February earned him the Premier League Player of the Month award.

The trophies followed. On 22 March, City beat Arsenal 2–0 in the EFL Cup final. On 16 May, Semenyo scored the only goal of the FA Cup final against Chelsea, finishing with a backheel. In his first half-season at the club, then, he had two winner’s medals. He was also named in the PFA Team of the Year and the Premier League Fan Team of the Season for 2025–26.

This week’s Champions League night was more sobering. Sky Sports reported that Erling Haaland scored twice but Enzo Maresca’s side suffered their first defeat of the season, and the BBC ran a piece asking whether PSG are building the greatest European dynasty. Semenyo’s misses were singled out by Ghanaian outlets, and that coverage is what sits behind this week’s search interest in Ghana.

Why he plays for Ghana

Having been born in England, Semenyo could have played for the Three Lions. He has said that his family were passionate Ghana supporters and that he remembers watching Ghana’s 2010 World Cup quarter-final defeat, which left a lasting impression. Ghana called him up on 26 May 2022, and he made his debut in a 3–0 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier win over Madagascar on 1 June.

He was in the squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, scored his first international goal in a 2–0 friendly win over Switzerland just before the tournament, and made two substitute appearances in the group stage against Portugal and Uruguay. His first competitive goal arrived in stoppage time against Angola in March 2023. He started all three group matches at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, which ended in elimination with two draws and a defeat. On 2 June 2026 coach Carlos Queiroz named him in Ghana’s 26-man squad for the 2026 World Cup.

How he plays

Semenyo began as a striker and found his place as a winger or wide midfielder. He is a direct, physically strong runner who attacks defenders. His Bournemouth returns of eleven league goals in 2024–25 and six in the first seven league games of 2025–26 are the clearest statistical record of that approach. At City he plays in the same attack as Erling Haaland, who scored twice in the PSG match.

Honours

Manchester City: EFL Cup and FA Cup, both 2025–26. Individual: Premier League Player of the Month (February 2026), PFA Team of the Year 2025–26, EFL Championship Player of the Month (January 2022), Bristol City Young Player of the Year, and the SWAG Foreign Footballer of the Year 2025.

Sources

• Wikipedia
• GhanaSoccernet
• Sky Sports
• BBC Sport
• Google Trends