Ruben Amorim wanted to sign Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth before he was sacked at Manchester United this week.
Manchester United made the decision to part ways with Ruben Amorim and his coaching team following on from the draw against Leeds United.
That result was not the catalyst for change, however, with Amorim’s sacking instead being largely due to a breakdown in relationship with director of football, Jason Wilcox.
One of the reasons for this split was due to a lack of agreement in terms of the transfer strategy. Amorim wanted reinforcements in the January window while club bosses were unlikely to make any signings.
They did try to convince Antoine Semenyo to join the club and were ready to pay his £65 million release clause, but the Bournemouth winger has instead decided to join rivals Manchester City.
The secret £1m reason Semenyo rejected United
Semenyo’s decision to join City is unfortunately not a surprising one as Pep Guardiola’s side are still fighting for the Premier League title and in the Champions League.
However, it has been revealed that this was not the only reason for him deciding to reject United, with reports explaining how the Reds annoyed their number one January target.
According to The Athletic, Semenyo had dined with Amorim and Wilcox in London during the summer as they tried to convince him of a move to Old Trafford.
But the Reds viewed the £70 million price tag as too expensive and instead opted to pursue Bryan Mbeumo as they believed he would only cost £55 million.
In the end, Mbeumo signed for United but the deal ended up being £65 million plus £6 million in add-ons, which took the total transfer fee to £71 million – one million more than Semenyo would have cost.
The report explained how Semenyo was ‘disappointed’ that he had been rejected for a player who ended up at the same valuation and was in ‘no rush’ to answer United’s calls this month.
United missing key profile
With Amorim out of the building, United are likely going to revert to a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation and several players could benefit from those changes.
However, the most awkward position for the Reds is on that left wing. Matheus Cunha can play there but prefers to drift inside while there are no other senior players who can naturally play in that role.
Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford both departed the club last summer and were the only two natural left-wingers in the squad. That profile, where you can use pace and directness on the flank, is missing right now.
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Cunha is likely going to start in that position and whoever is in charge will want the left-back, most likely Luke Shaw, to help the Brazilian in attack and hold the width.
Ironically, Semenyo would have fit that position perfectly and Cunha could have either played through the middle as a striker or no.10, but United will now be looking elsewhere to fill that gap.
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