Bristol City’s stance on Antoine Semenyo transfer amid Everton and Crystal Palace interest

Bristol City do not need to sell Antoine Semenyo but may not stand in their way if a Premier League club came in and they stressed their desire to leave.

That is the stance based on the comments of the Robins owner Steve Lansdown from last week, Everton join Celtic and Crystal Palace in race for £15m Bristol City star">amid reports of an incoming bid from Crystal Palace and new interest from Everton who are managed by Chelsea legend Frank Lampard.

As of last week, City hadn’t received a firm offer for Semenyo but things could change this week with the days ticking down on the transfer window.

The 22-year-old is under contract for the next year at least with the ability to extend his deal through a one-year option. City do not ‘need’ to sell Semenyo or his highly-rated teammate Alex Scott.

Last week Steve Lansdown admitted any potential sale could be reinvested back into the rest of the squad, but there is still no offer on the table.

Should any sale take place, it may have to be player-driven and so far, Semenyo has not spoken publicly about wanting to depart the club. Things could change however as Lansdown admitted that once Adam Webster stated he wanted to leave despite the club’s desire for him to stay, they were able to recoup a club record fee of £20.00m for him.

Brighton were of course in the Premier League at the time and that is the only market that will be explored, perhaps ruling out Scottish Premiership winners Celtic.

He said: "I think the transfer market is only with the Premier League sides. They have the capital to do it and the owners who can put the money in to do something but strictly speaking, I don’t think that’s there anymore.

"Why would Alex or Antoine want to go to someone else in the Championship? They have fantastic facilities here, it’s a great club to be a part of, great team-mates and a progression that they can see in their own careers but when a Premier League club comes in for them that’s when it’s difficult to turn down and I wouldn’t stand in their way."

According to Transfermarkt, a total of £1.3bn has been spent by all 20 Premier League clubs this summer with newly promoted Nottingham Forest one of the biggest spending clubs, spending an outlay of £106.70m.

The interested parties like Everton have already spent £32m this summer whilst also receiving £52m whilst a potential sale of Anthony Gordon to Chelsea could almost double that, leaving them with the resources to buy Semenyo.

Palace meanwhile have spent £30m on just two players, Cheick Doucoure and Chris Richards. Newly-promoted AFC Bournemouth have just started spending their money after a slow start to the window but again the riches of the television deal make any deal a possibility.

The Daily Mail reported that Palace want to bid £12m for Semenyo but that the actual valuation of the player is £15m, though that would surely be on top of add-ons given the vast potential of the player.

An injury earlier this summer may have deterred an immediate move as interested clubs await the severity of the situation but that may not hold out too much longer.

Semenyo is injured at the moment but is stepping up his recovery as he hopes to force his way into the Ghana national team. That does not mean however he would 100% fail a medical with the final decision being at the potential purchasing club.

No medical is the same and it’s more down to the interested clubs medical team making an assessment of the player and whether they will benefit them in the long-term. The interested party would speak to the selling club to get some information regarding their injury history.

As it stands, any news of a departure from Semenyo remains at speculation, but there have been enquiries and that can later transpire to a bid.

It will be interesting to see if City can hold their resolve to keep one of their prized assets or whether they’ll eventually have their valuation met by either club who should have no struggles by a league that has been unaffected by the financial impact over the last few years.