Bristol City face test to keep Nottingham Forest target Antoine Semenyo as late bids land for striker

Bristol City are having to fend off big interest for in-form striker Antoine Semenyo as the powerful Robins forward courts attention elsewhere.

BristolWorld understands that the list of clubs watching the forward has grown by the week and the Robins hierarchy are now engaged in talks over the player’s future.

According to our sources, multiple bids have landed this morning alone for the 22-year-old, who has hit four goals and six assists in nine Championship starts this season. One has been rejected from Nottingham Forest. It is not known if the East Midlands side will return.

Chelsea failed with a bid of £2m for the player back in early 2019 and the Blues scouts were quick to recognise the talents of the former SGS Filton pupil, now really blossoming in the English second tier.

The sides in for the striker range from Championship to Premier League with one Scottish side interested too.

Although the bids have come late for the versatile forward, a significant offer may be tough to turn down, given City’s parlous financial position currently.

The Robins announced a £38.4m pre-tax loss in their last financial accounts and CEO Richard Gould explained that the club may have to sell its best players to avoid a points deduction from the EFL at some stage.

“Where the uncertainty is, to what extent will the EFL accept there has been a crash in the transfer market? We have this bow wave of costs that is coming year-on-year closer to the FFP element and with the loss of transfer income, there is not much we can do,” explained Gould recently.

“There is some stuff we can do, but it’s whether or not we choose to: do we want to sell all our best players this summer? No. Do we want to try and convince the EFL that FFP is now useless because there’s been an act of God called Covid that has changed the entire market? Yes, we think there’s a good case for that,” he added.

One source has suggested that the club has been asking for £15m for Antoine Semenyo in this window.

Whether any late bids reach that figure may be an interesting watch over the next hours, with one Championship side with parachute payments pulling out of the race for the forward’s signature.

But even if City were to accept an offer, would there be time to recruit any replacements - and of better ability - in the current window? It may point to things rumbling on to the summer.

Semenyo has played 909 minutes in the Championship this season, scoring four times and setting up six goals.