Bristol City have until 11pm on Thursday to ensure they retain the services of Antoine Semenyo until, at least, the January transfer window but Nigel Pearson has indicated the Robins own deadline has long since passed.
Semenyo scored for the third straight game as a substitute in City’s 2-0 Championship win over Huddersfield Town on Wednesday night, having returned to the squad following a shin injury sustained at the beginning of June.
The 22-year-old has been courted by a host of Premier League clubs, most notably Crystal Palace while there have been reports of a £10m bid rejected by Bournemouth earlier in the window, but since resuming match fitness, the Robins have not been troubled by any serious approaches.
On Monday, Pearson declared that he wouldn’t be entertaining any late bids for the striker, because it would dramatically lessen the chances of City being able to bring in any reinforcements of their own, and speaking in the wake of their victory over Huddersfield, that scenario seems to have already transpired.
“Well, it’s a bit late now isn’t it,” Pearson said on Wednesday night. “One day to go and people haven’t shown any interest, so I’m not telling you. None. No bids as far as I’m concerned.”
That was after telling BBC Radio Bristol : “I’m not expecting anything to happen. It is last minute now, let’s be honest. It’s ludicrous really to think about rushing things through now when we’ve heard nothing about it beforehand.”
When asked whether that also applies to incomings, Pearson added: “Well, it looks like it because we’ve got to lose players before we can bring them in so that’s how it is.”
Bristol Live understands that while a number of top-flight clubs would have liked to have brought Semenyo in this transfer window, City’s high price for the former SGS College pupil coupled with his relatively minimal body of work has meant he’ll almost certainly stay at Ashton Gate.
City have wanted a fee approaching £20m but given the 22-year-old’s spectacular campaign in 2021/22 was essentially only from January-May, and comprising 24 starts, spending that fee was seen as too high-risk an investment.
It’s been an admirable position from City because those strong tactics have been tempered by the knowledge that without selling Semenyo, they’re unable to bring in their own replacements, with Pearson coveting a centre-back and, as he revealed on Monday, a left-sided player. There’s also been the consideration of the EFL’s Profit & Sustainability regulations for next year, with City needing to raise transfer revenue and/or significantly reduce their wage bill.
The lack of will to sell Semenyo indicates, at least at this stage, the latter target could well have been achieved following the departures of high earners Kasey Palmer and Callum O'Dowda, strengthening the Robins position in the market.
Semenyo’s injury in June also inadvertently aided the Robins as it kept any transfer talk towards the end of the window, while the striker also switched agents in recent weeks from long-standing representative Tony Finnegan to his father, Larry.
Although City are yet to publicly acknowledge that they’ve activated the extra 12 months in his contract which was due to expire in 2023, owner Steve Lansdown stated that Semenyo had “two years left” on his deal, when speaking on August 6.
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