Sunderland flop now worth £70m - wanted by Newcastle United and Manchester United

A meteoric rise in the last two seasons has seen the 25-year-old develop into one of the Premier League’s best wingers. Semenyo - born in England but now a fully-fledged Ghanaian international - bagged a first-minute winner against Fulham on Monday.

That took his goal tally for the season to 10 across all competitions - already two better than last year. He has a chance to make history in the final six games of the season by helping Bournemouth qualify for Europe for the first time.

Newcastle fans witnessed Semenyo’s talents in January when the Cherries stunned Eddie Howe’s men 4-1 at St James’ Park. Justin Kluivert netted a hat-trick to steal the headlines that day but Semenyo was equally as electrifying on the right flank.

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Speculation has surrounded the winger all season and the i reported earlier this year that £70million could do the trick. A hefty price tag highlights how far Semenyo - who struggled on loan at Sunderland - has come in a short space of time.

Newcastle could be poised to turn their bitter rivals’ flop into a success story. Reports have linked the Magpies with a summer swoop for Semenyo to solve their right-wing problems.

Jacob Murphy is in electrifying form, with 17 goal contributions his best tally since joining Newcastle eight years ago. But the 30-year-old remains the club’s only right-winger having sold Miguel Almiron earlier this year.

Yankuba Minteh, who joined as a youth player and never played a game for Newcastle before being sold, is the only right-sided attacker the Magpies have signed under Saudi-backed ownership. European football next season will require a bigger squad and, if Champions League qualification is secured, Toon chiefs may loosen the purse strings.

The Athletic report that Man United will compete for his signature as Ruben Amorim plots a summer rebuild. A bold off-season is expected at Old Trafford as Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s minority ownership attempt to rise from the rubble of their worst-ever Premier League season.

PSR movement is understood to be tight and any deal for Semenyo would need movement in the opposite direction. While the Red Devils have the history and prestige, few could argue against Newcastle, with their ambitious owners and upward trajectory as a club, being the more attractive option for potential targets.

Antoine Semenyo targeting European football with Bournemouth

Semenyo is not letting transfer talk distract him and set his sights on European qualification at Bournemouth after bagging the winner against Fulham. The Cherries currently sit eight in the Premier League but that could be enough for Conference League football.

"I feel like what we have done this year we do definitely deserve the European places,” Semenyo told Sky Sports. "All season long we have been grinding and beating the top six teams. This little phase we are going through, losing and drawing, every team goes through that but that is why this win is so important.

"We came into the game wanting to give our all and you could see at the end in the celebrations that it meant a lot. It has been a tough couple of weeks but it is good to be back on the board."

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