Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson has confirmed Bournemouth’s latest offer for Antoine Semenyo has been accepted and the Robins are in negotiations with a permanent replacement for the striker.
Bournemouth made their third offer of the window on Thursday morning which is believed to be a fee of £9 million up front and further incentivised add-ons taking it past their previous offer of £10m.
With Semenyo’s contract expiring in 18 months and City conscious of their own needs to improve their squad before Tuesday’s transfer deadline, the Cherries’ persistence and the sense of timing has ensured this proposal has been successful.
Bristol Live understands that Crystal Palace, Semenyo’s preferred destination due to his London roots, were invited to make a counter offer but that hasn’t been forthcoming and Bournemouth have been the only club to make a credible bid and the 23-year-old is set to undergo a medical this afternoon.
“As we stand, Antoine is in discussions with Bournemouth, I can confirm that,” Pearson said. “The driver of those types of situations are two clubs agreeing a fee. That’s happened now and the club will at some point disclose what that is but not today at a press conference.
“He’s been given permission to speak to the club and there will be an opportunity for a medical. That’s where we are with that and no real further comments on that at the moment. “The most important fact to recognise at the moment is a fee has been agreed between the two clubs so now there are other factors to wait to see; one being a medical and one being agreeing personal terms.”
Semenyo’s anticipated departure, having joined City from SGS College in 2017 and risen through the ranks to make 125 appearances for the club, leaves the Robins light in attack, especially with Andi Weimann recovering from a hamstring injury and Tommy Conway potentially out until March, while Chris Martin’s days at the club appear numbered.
Pearson has revealed that City are actively pursuing a permanent signing in attack, in light of the fee they will receive for Semenyo and that player fits the profile of previous signings made during his time at the club. Based on the acquisitions of Rob Atkinson, Kane Wilson, Mark Sykes and George Tanner, that would lean towards an EFL-based forward who offers genuine value in terms of any transfer fee.
“We have plans,” Pearson added. “We’re trying to move on a player at the moment but, of course, until there is some factual evidence, again, I don’t really believe in doing that publicly. We are trying to bring somebody in and the next couple of days will be very important to try and get some kind of agreement.
“Yes, it is (an attacking player) because Andi’s been out, Tommy is out so we need cover and somebody to come in and fill a place in a forward position for us. But we are looking at other options too and we’ll see how they develop.
“I don’t intend to be vague for our supporters, it’s just more out of courtesy when you’re talking about other people’s players.
"There is speculation about players and who’s moving where but I think, for the time being, I try to be clear and we’ve not been in a position to strengthen our squad, based on our financial situation, but agreeing a deal over Antoine gives us some capabilities but it’s not going to mean fortunes being spent.
“We’re still working towards the same plan and the same profile of player.”
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