Paris (France) (AFP) – Antoine Semenyo is set for his second World Cup with Ghana, this time as an established Premier League forward, but he came close to abandoning his dream of becoming a professional footballer. Now at Manchester City, Semenyo is expected to play a key role for a Ghana side led by new coach Carlos Queiroz, after the Black Stars failed to qualify for the most recent Africa Cup of Nations.
Four years is a long time in football, as Semenyo’s meteoric rise since Ghana’s group-stage exit in Qatar so vividly demonstrates. Semenyo managed just 19 minutes across two substitute appearances in a disappointing 2022 World Cup campaign, but barely a month later he made the step up to the Premier League after joining Bournemouth from Bristol City. The 26-year-old has scarcely looked back.
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His startling progress masks a demanding journey shaped by rejection that led Semenyo to consider a different career altogether. After three years at Bournemouth, Manchester City triggered Semenyo’s release clause in January in a deal worth £65 million, fending off competition from Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Tottenham. Semenyo quickly endeared himself to City supporters, producing one of the great FA Cup final goals with an audacious back-flick to secure a 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Wembley earlier this month. There was a touch of irony in that moment: Semenyo was born just a stone’s throw from Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge home in west London.
Despite spending his entire life in England, Semenyo said there was no question about representing Ghana. “My mum and dad are Ghana through (and through). They never really mentioned anything about England,” he told FIFA. “Obviously, living in England, you get the conversation of: ‘Oh, you should represent England.’ But it was never a conversation I ever had, really. Ghana came in when I was 19, 20, so I was never going to turn it down.”
Semenyo’s character and resilience were forged during his youth. After being rejected by Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, and Millwall, he stepped away from the game for a year. But football runs in his blood. His father, Larry, played alongside former Leeds striker Tony Yeboah in the Ghanaian top flight, while younger brother Jai is on the books of Ligue 1 club Lorient. Semenyo was lured back to a youth academy programme in the south-west and eventually broke into the professional ranks, catching the attention of several clubs while studying sports science. Keen to stay in the area, he chose Bristol City and signed his first contract just after turning 18.
Opportunities did not come easily. The club sent him out on multiple loan spells early in his career before he forced his way into the first team. His Ghana debut followed in June 2022, and Semenyo eventually earned his move to the Premier League, blossoming into one of its most potent wingers under Andoni Iraola. Pep Guardiola believes his best years are still to come.
“It’s surreal to be honest. I speak to my friends about it all the time. I didn’t think I would ever make it this far,” said Semenyo. “I thought just being a professional was enough – signing for Bristol City was enough for me. So, to say that I’m going to (another) World Cup… yeah, it’s amazing.”
His arrival at City underlined his reputation as one of the English game’s most fearsome attackers, but he has not forgotten all the effort it took to get where he is. “It’s my mentality now. I have to be resilient. I have to work harder than the next person. I’ve always had that, my whole life. It gives me that extra grit, that extra bite,” Semenyo told Sky Sports last year.
© 2024 AFP
