Nigel Pearson has confirmed that Bristol City have activated the 12-month option in Antoine Semenyo’s contract and that the Robins’ wish for new signings in January is not strictly dependent on selling the Ghana international or other prized assets such as Alex Scott and Tommy Conway.
Semenyo’s contract was due to expire next summer but the club have now safeguarded his immediate future by finally taking up the option in the agreement originally signed in 2019. The decision is as much for financial security as anything, with Semenyo remaining of interest to several clubs ahead of the opening of the transfer window.
Pearson is determined to do some business in the new year to freshen up his squad and previously had been blunt that players could only come in, if others were to leave. That was widely assumed to mean a substantial sale of Semenyo, Scott or increasingly Conway, as he enjoys a breakout campaign in the Championship.
However, while there are considerations towards the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability rules, that isn’t strictly the case as the manager is also hopeful that some of the individuals on expiring deals at the club can be traded away or potentially he could add his first loan signing since arriving in February 2021.
“Antoine, we’ve activated his extension. We have to protect our interests,” Pearson said.
When asked if things can happen next month without a significant sale, he added: “Yes, they can. But then you’ve got to remember we will still have to meet financial fair play regulations and so obviously a sale would make that situation a lot easier to deal with, but the reality is that we would prefer to keep our best players.
“Our fanbase doesn’t want to know that we’re just looking to cash-in on our best players because why would they then look forward with any optimism. So, what we have to do is try and get the balance right.”
That balance is about finding the sweet spot between getting the most out of players on the pitch while selling them when the time is right for the club and the player, in terms of opportunities for them and market value for the Robins.
Using Massengo as a reference point, the Frenchman is set to depart either in January, as a makeweight in a deal, or at the end of the season to which City will receive some compensation but nothing compared to what considerations were around his value last summer and before.
However, as has since transpired, interest in Massengo never went beyond enquiries and speculation - with Pearson denying previous reports that Watford had an offer turned down in 2021 - and it’s impossible to sell an asset if nobody is prepared to buy them, such has been the downturn in the transfer market outside of the Premier League.
“Han-Noah’s situation is a good example of that,” Pearson added. “When I joined the club and you looked at the value of the squad, it wasn’t massive, but Han-Noah would be the one player who you would be looking at and go - yeah, at that point, he’s saleable. And… no bids. That’s the reality of where football is.
“Players’ market value is what somebody is prepared to pay, not what we think they’re worth and that’s where the risk and reward of, ‘let’s keep them’ is.
“Alex Scott, for instance, I think benefits greatly from another season here and next year but that’s not to say somebody won’t come in with a bid, we don’t know.
“Tommy Conway’s doing so well, he might be; Sam Bell is scoring goals for fun in the 21s, when he gets his chance next, he might. We can’t plan and assume that what we think’s going to happen, will happen. It might be totally different.”
In Semenyo’s case therefore, his situation is a little more heightened by the fact his agreement now expires in 2024, whereas Scott and Conway’s are in 2025, so a decision will have to be reached over the forward either in this window or the summer.
But that is dependent solely on if an offer is forthcoming to make a decision, otherwise we’re into Famara Diedhiou and Massengo territory again.
There is inevitable interest in the 22-year-old, following his outstanding second half of last season, potential ceiling as a striker and his status now as an international footballer, albeit with Semenyo goalless in his last 15 games for the Robins.
But that doesn’t immediately equate to a credible and significant bid and Pearson voiced bafflement over recent links in Scotland with Celtic and Rangers.
“I’ve seen some stories about Antoine coming out of Scotland and, to my knowledge, there’s been nothing from clubs in Scotland,” Pearson added. “These stories are designed to create some sort of an interest. Who starts them off, who knows. But it’s normally someone with a vested interest in getting a deal done and they’re generally representatives and third and fourth parties.
“We have to take with a pinch of salt what’s out there in the media sometimes, no disrespect to you.”
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