Rangers are reportedly exploring the possibility of a January transfer move for Bristol City striker Antoine Semenyo with the Scottish club in the market for a striker.
Football Insider claim the 22-year-old forward is very high on their list of targets despite the club currently being without a manager. Rangers sacked Giovanni van Bronckhorst earlier in the week and look set to replace him with Queens Park Ranger's Michael Beale.
Bristol Live understands City have received no contact from Rangers over a potential offer. Semenyo made his own slice of history on Thursday by making his World Cup debut after coming on as a substitute in Ghana's 3-2 defeat against Portugal.
A fee of £5million had previously been touted but it's highly unlikely City would entertain such a bid. Semenyo's contract expires in the summer but the club have the option of extending that until the summer of 2024.
Rangers are likely to be left short of options in the attacking department in January. Antonio-Mirko Colak has impressed with 11 goals but Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent are out of contract at the end of the season and could leave in the New Year.
Football Scotland further add that Rangers have been scouting Semenyo over the past number of months. The academy star has started seven Championship games and made nine substitute appearances after missing pre-season with a shin injury picked up on international duty over the summer.
Transfer speculation over Semenyo's future is nothing new after he was previously linked with moves to Celtic, Crystal Palace and Bournemouth over the summer. West Ham, Southampton, Brighton and Fulham also watched the forward last season.
It was believed City valued their prized asset at around £20m with Nigel Pearson saying "it will be very expensive if somebody comes in" following the 3-3 draw with Blackpool in August. The manager has hinted, however, that they may have to sell a player in January to raise funds in order to bolster his defence.
Before the World Cup break, Pearson said: "I'll just reiterate what I've already said and that is we would need players to leave before we can do business to bring players in. That's it. That's what it is.
"Whether we'll be able to do some trading remains to be seen but that will only happen if players leave essentially. We're not as a club going to change our strategy in what we're trying to do and that is still to be competitive but reduce costs."
City's recent accounts, in which they posted losses of £28.5million, emphasises the fact that the club will need to cash in on one of their assets in the future although that doesn't need to be in January. Although, there would be more of an urgency to sell Semenyo over the likes of Alex Scott because of his contract situation.
Even when City exercise the clause in his contract until 2024, they would still likely have to listen to offers at the end of the season to avoid a similar scenario to Han-Noah Massengo and risk losing him for nothing.
Pearson and owner Steve Lansdown have also both confirmed they would not stand in the striker's way should a Premier League club make an offer. Semenyo's stock could further rise in Qatar if he gets a decent opportunity to showcase his ability on the world stage.
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