Antoine Semenyo is set to join Manchester City after they struck a £62.5m deal with Bournemouth, rather than activating his release clause.
The release clause was thought to be worth £65m, but City will pay slightly less over the next two years, while Bournemouth could make a further £1.5m in performance-related add-ons and will earn 10 percent of the profit if and when the former Premier League champions sell him.
Semenyo will undergo a medical in Manchester and is expected to sign a five-and-a-half-year contract with City.
The Ghana international had also attracted interest from Liverpool, while Chelsea made an enquiry about him and he was a target for former Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim.
He will instead become Pep Guardiola’s first January signing and take his spending in the last three transfer windows past £400m.
Semenyo’s arrival could lead to the departure of Oscar Bobb on loan, with Borussia Dortmund showing an interest in the Norway international.
Bournemouth had been keen to keep Semenyo for their fixtures at the start of the month, even as his departure became inevitable, and he ended their 11-game run without a victory with a late winner against Tottenham on Wednesday.
It was the 26-year-old’s 10th Premier League goal of the season, making him the third highest scorer in the division – with Erling Haaland, soon to be a teammate, top of the list.
Bournemouth have brought in over £200m in the last two transfer windows, with other sales including Milos Kerkez to Liverpool, Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid and Illia Zabarnyi to Paris Saint-Germain but they will have to pay Bristol City as a result of a sell-on clause when Semenyo left the Championship club.
