Antoine Semenyo is in contention to feature for Bristol City next Saturday against Rotherham United following Ghana’s elimination at the World Cup in Qatar.
Semenyo played 19 minutes as a second-half substitute in the Black Stars' 2-0 defeat to Uruguay, which meant they finished fourth in Group H and were unable to progress in the knockout phase. Giorgian de Arrascaeta's brace did the damage for the South Americans but South Korea's 2-1 victory over Portugal saw them advance to the last 16 in second place, based on goals scored.
Semenyo did have a good chance to reduced the deficit but skewed his left-footed shot wide of the far post and had a late penalty shout turned down.
His participation in Qatar was minimal, with the 22-year-old not getting off the bench in the 3-2 win over South Korea, and playing just a few minutes in their opener against Portugal, which means he’s unlikely to require much rest before returning to club responsibilities.
Had Ghana qualified, they would have played their knockout game on Monday, which would have ruled him out of Rotherham, irrespective of the result, as he wouldn’t be back in Bristol to train until Wednesday at the earliest.
City returned to training at the High Performance this week in preparation for the game at New York Stadium a week on Saturday and having been with the Ghana camp since the middle of November, Semenyo should be ahead of his teammates in terms of match sharpness.
Semenyo is in the midst of a lengthy scoring drought for the Robins having not found the target since September 14 - 12 games ago. His campaign had been disrupted by a shin injury sustained while on international duty with Ghana in June, causing him to miss most of pre-season.
Since his recovery in late August, Semenyo has been in and out of Nigel Pearson’s preferred XI, making seven appearances as a starter and a further nine off the bench.
His position at the club will come further into focus as the January transfer window approaches as Semenyo’s contract expires next summer, although the Robins do hold a 12-month option which they are yet to activate.
That is, in-part, due to the offer of a new contract that has been on the table since the start of 2022, in the wake of a rejected transfer bid from Nottingham Forest, but it looks unlikely that the forward will sign fresh terms.
That means that City will need to move Semenyo on even in January or the summer window, with Pearson admitting last month that he cannot bring in any reinforcements on a fee until a significant sale is made. Unfortunately for City, Semenyo’s relative lack of participation in Qatar has done little to inflate his transfer value to grow his reputation beyond what is already established.
The Robins did enjoy some financial benefit from the striker's participation in the tournament, earning £160,000 via FIFA's Club Benefits Programme which compensates clubs for releasing players for the World Cup.
SIGN UP: For our daily Robins newsletter, bringing you the latest from Ashton Gate
READ NEXT
