Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo has continued to see his stock rise and reportedly has a release clause ahead of the January transfer window - with Liverpool urged to act
Darren Bent has urged Liverpool to go after Bournemouth ace Antoine Semenyo, with the Ghanaian considered to be the ideal man to eventually replace Mohamed Salah.
The winger has built on last season's impressive exploits and gone to another level, marking himself out as one of the most effective forwards in the Premier League. He's come up with six goals and three assists in his first 11 appearances this term.
Two of those goals came on the opening night of the campaign at Liverpool as Bournemouth levelled the contest for a period. Semenyo ran the length of the pitch before firing past Alisson for one of his goals.
Andoni Iraola saw a mass exodus in the summer, which included the sale of Milos Kerkez to Liverpool, but was able to retain his Ghana international. It is understood that Semenyo has a £65million release clause which can be activated in the first two weeks of the January window.
Liverpool are among those keen with Manchester United and Tottenham also weighing up moves - but Bent sees Semenyo as the perfect man to take over from Salah with the Reds having to look to the future sooner rather than later.
The ex-striker said on TalkSport: "He has exploded out of the traps this season and he just looks really comfortable in himself. Every game you see him do something and you go, 'Oh my goodness'… he’s one of those rare players and I call players like this unstoppable. Gareth Bale was like that.
"When I talk about unstoppable I’m talking about their attributes. When Bale started to move, you just couldn’t stop him and Semenyo is the same. Once he gets going, he’s going past people and he’s gliding. What’s good about him is that he can go both ways. I think he’s got the full package.
"For so long now, Liverpool have been able to depend on Salah on that right-hand side, season upon season, and don’t get me wrong, he’s been one of the best players we’ve ever seen in this country. But the signs are that he potentially maybe is slowing down a fraction. Now, all of a sudden, you have to start addressing both sides."
Bournemouth have managed to be in and around the top four for much of the campaign despite seeing a number of their top players depart. Dean Huijsen's performances earned him a move to Real Madrid and Semenyo may want to test himself at such a level.
Liverpool could offer him that opportunity whilst Bent claims that the Bournemouth star may see himself as on a par with Jeremy Doku at Manchester City.
"I think he [Semenyo] would go to Liverpool. I think he can get into any top, top squad," he added. "You’re still going to get more than enough minutes but it depends on his ambition. His ambition might be: 'Get me to Manchester City, I’m better than Doku,' that might be his mindset."