Sports
10 min read
Is Liverpool's Next Antoine Semenyo Destined for Anfield?
Anfield Watch
January 19, 2026âą3 days ago
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Liverpool missed signing Antoine Semenyo, who joined Manchester City. The club is still seeking attacking reinforcements, particularly on the left wing. However, Brazilian prospect Rayan, who has joined Bournemouth, was also on Liverpool's radar. If Rayan succeeds at Bournemouth, he could be a future transfer target for Liverpool, with his father reportedly showing affinity for the club.
Liverpool missed out on Antoine Semenyo but his replacement could join the Reds in the future.
Unfortunately, the Ghanaian was never meant to be for the Reds. Even though it felt like his preferred destination would be Anfield given the links with Richard Hughes, Liverpool never pulled the trigger for him.
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Why that was, we will never know. What's very clear is that Manchester City swooped in and gazumped the Reds.
Semenyo is now scoring goals for fun in Pep Guardiola's side meanwhile Liverpool are still trying to figure out how to reinforce the attack - something Hughes has been trying to do ever since he joined.
It's the left-winger position that he hasn't quite clearly found a solution for. Failed attempts to sign Anthony Gordon, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and now Semenyo have led Liverpool to a fruitless endeavour.
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It feels like we may be stuck with Cody Gakpo cutting in, forever and ever. Like some terrible torment.
But all is not doom and gloom. Semenyo's replacement at Bournemouth appears to Brazilian star Rayan. Fabrizio Romano has reported that Rayan informed Vasco da Gama that he wants to join the Premier League side.
This is interesting because Rayan was also on Liverpool's radar. Now the Reds never really sign South Americans directly from the continent but they could sign Rayan in the future, if he succeeds at Bournemouth.
That's almost guaranteed given how well Bournemouth invest their money and how big of a talent Rayan is.
You don't play close to 100 games for Vasco Da Gama and score over 20 goals in one calendar if you are not a special talent.
Rayan has everything to be Brazil's first-choice no.9 and he can also play on the wing, making him a really attractive prospect for a club like Bournemouth.
Obviously, Bournemouth have shown recently that they can provide a pathway for young players to move onto the next step in the careers.
Milos Kerkez joined Liverpool, Dean Huijsen went to Real Madrid, Ilya Zabarnyi ended up at Paris Saint Germain and the list just goes on.
Rayan will know Bournemouth is not the final destination but a necessary stepping stone.
But where could that stepping stone lead him?
Well the answer could be Anfield. Liverpool scouts will closely monitor him at Bournemouth as they did at Vasco and given the need to reinforce the attack in the coming years, he will be firmly on the club's radar.
Whether he would be open to a move remains to be seen. Although the fact that his father on his Instagram account is wearing a Liverpool top in his profile picture might just be a clue as to where his affinity lies.
Based on that and based on Hughes' links with Bournemouth, it just feels like Rayan is destined to sign for Liverpool in the future.
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