Pep Guardiola's promise convinced me to join Manchester City – Antoine Semenyo
Ghana international Antoine Semenyo has opened up on the decision behind his £65 million move to Manchester City, revealing that manager Pep Guardiola's vision for his development played a decisive role in convincing him to join the Premier League champions.
The 26-year-old forward completed his high-profile transfer from Bournemouth during the January transfer window, with City reportedly beating off competition from Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea to secure his signature.
Speaking about the transfer, Semenyo disclosed that City's interest began as early as December, with discussions continuing before he made the final decision to move to the Etihad Stadium the following month.
Reflecting on his time at Bournemouth, the Black Stars attacker expressed heartfelt gratitude to his former club for helping him establish himself in the Premier League.
"I owe them everything, to be honest," Semenyo told the BBC. "They helped my Premier League career flourish and obviously the management, the staff behind the scenes, they were all amazing; they made everything so smooth."
Semenyo enjoyed a remarkable campaign, scoring 21 goals for club and country. His standout moments included netting the winning goal in Manchester City's FA Cup final victory over Chelsea, a triumph he described as a "dream come true", while also helping the club lift the Carabao Cup.
The Ghana forward explained that he viewed the move to City as the ideal next step in his career, particularly after speaking directly with Guardiola before the transfer was completed.
"I think for me, I just wanted the next step to be the big one and Manchester City was the option. Pep spoke to me beforehand, and he said, 'look, when you come, I am going to make you a better player'.
"You want to get better, you want to improve every season, and he definitely helped me with that in the first five months, but obviously sad for him to leave," he added.