Liverpool have ebbed and flowed this season, but the Reds fanbase will expect Arne Slot’s side to bury the three-game losing run that chased them into the October international break and start performing with the coherence and quality of champions.

After all, the Merseysiders breezed their way through the 2024/25 campaign, winning the Premier League title with relative ease after Jurgen Klopp stepped down from his post.

But so much upheaval this summer was always going to knock things out of kilter.

Liverpool’s attacking synergy has been anything but smooth this season, even with an excess of world-class quality welcomed down Anfield Road, even with Hugo Ekitike firing on all cylinders since joining and reminding Alexander Isak his berth at number nine is anything but secure.

But with things not quite right on the attacking right flank, rumours have circulated pertaining to interest in Bournemouth superstar Antoine Semenyo, whose form this term suggests he would be a credit to any side across Europe.

Why Liverpool want Antoine Semenyo

For Liverpool, Mohamed Salah has been a gift from the gods.

But nothing lasts forever, and the Egyptian King is into the penultimate year of his £400k-per-week contract. He is 33 years old, and his performances haven’t been good enough this season.

It’s with this in mind that Liverpool have focused their sights on Bournemouth’s Semenyo, who has been among the most prolific wingers in Europe so far this season, six goals and three assists across seven matches in the Premier League.

Valued at £75m, Bournemouth are aware of Liverpool’s interest, with sources reporting this month that the 25-year-old is at the top of Richard Hughes’ wish list.

However, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are also hot on the Ghana international’s tail.

Semenyo’s multi-positionality is an attractive feature of his. Dangerous across the left wing and right, he is a menace of a footballer and hailed by one Premier League analyst this season as being “one of the best players in the world” at the moment.

Right winger

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10 (2)

Left winger

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7 (6)

Centre-forward

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Bournemouth’s £75m valuation is a reflection of that market value. Semenyo, to be sure, would cost a pretty penny.

But Liverpool might manage to save millions. Sure, a Salah replacement will be required in the coming transfer windows, but Slot already has a Semenyo-type player at his disposal.

Liverpool's own version of Semenyo

Semenyo is a rare type of forward, two-footed and confident across a range of different attacking roles. It is no coincidence that the rise and rise of Andoni Iraola’s outfit has coincided with his own.

He would strengthen Liverpool’s team, no doubt, but Slot might actually already have his own version of the maverick in the young Rio Ngumoha.

Handed his professional debut during the FA Cup win over Accrington Stanley in January 2025, Ngumoha excelled as an up-and-comer at Liverpool last season, poached, aged 15, from Chelsea’s youth academy despite his prodigious potential.

The winger’s long-time youth coach, Saul Isaksson-Hurst, said “he can reach any level he wants”, having been awed many a time over the years by Ngumoha’s pace and power and confidence on the ball.

He said, “I don’t say it lightly, he is one of the best academy talents I have come across, and I have seen some top players become superstars. What makes him stand out is his one-v-one ability on the ball – he can break lines, drive at players, beat players on either side and end product.

“I told his brother I expect him to see him on the Ballon d’Or list one day, I believe he can do that.”

One online youth football promoter has even gone as far as to claim that Ngumoha “will become one of the best wingers in the world”. Early days, early days, but the teenager has the talent, and each passing performance merely adds grist to the hype mill.

The hype is real, and Ngumoha’s match-winning goal at St. James’ Park in August, on his Premier League debut, has only increased the fanfare around the 17-year-old’s potential.

Direct and dynamic with startling close control on the ball, Ngumoha has all the skills required to become a superstar, and his natural potency and the trust Slot has shown in him already this season tell much of his potential.

Ngumoha’s height was recorded at 5 foot 7 at the start of the season, but his physical growth continues, and it’s becoming clear he will not be a diminutive wideman but a force to be reckoned with, Lamine Yamal-esque, even, as his winged feet carry him up and down the flank, leaving defenders for dust.

That crucial goal against Newcastle United at the start of the season also emphasises a positional understanding and coolness in the big moments, and this is something Semenyo has added to his game spectacularly across the past few months.

The Cherries star was already considered one of the best wingers in the business for his efforts last year, with Tottenham lodging an enquiry for the talent this summer, rebuffed upon the south coast side’s £70m demands.

If he keeps on playing as he is, that figure might prove to be a bargain down the line, but with such thick competition for his signature, Liverpool might want to hold fire and instead continue the emphasis on developing Ngumoha, who is the real deal and could play with a frightening quality and control in a couple of years, when he reaches physical and technical maturity.

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ByAngus Sinclair