Chelsea will not sign Antoine Semenyo despite making an enquiry for the Bournemouth forward.
The Blues made their interest known on Tuesday, but believe they have enough strength in depth across the frontline.
Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool are interested in Semenyo, with the forward having a £65m release clause in his contract which becomes active on January 1.
Man Utd and Man City are still ahead of other clubs and remain neck-and-neck for his signature.
Ruben Amorim described Semenyo as a “special player” ahead of the game against Bournemouth, in which the Ghana international scored in a 4-4 draw.
But Liverpool remain interested and are understood to be considering their options in the wake of Alexander Isak’s injury.
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Antoine Semenyo scored an equaliser for Bournemouth in their Premier League match at Manchester United
Spurs were interested in the Bournemouth forward over the summer and earlier this season, but are moving on to other targets and are out of the race.
Semenyo, 25, has scored eight Premier League goals this season, including in Bournemouth’s last two games.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Bournemouth’s draw against Burnley in the Premier League, in which Antoine Semenyo scored for the Cherries
‘Chelsea are so well stocked in the forwards department’
Sky Sports News’ Chief Correspondent Kaveh Solhekol:
“The feeling at Chelsea is they are very well stocked in the forward departments, especially out wide.
“You have to remember they have signed so many wide forward players in the last 12 months – Jamie Gittens, Alejandro Garnacho, Estevao, Joao Pedro, Liam Delap and Pedro Neto.
“And they have players joining in the summer do not forget, like the Geovany Quenda from Sporting, Strasbourg striker Emmanuel Emegha.
“And so it was just a case of Chelsea looking at it and deciding not to take it any further, or they got the feeling the player had just decided he wanted to go somewhere else.”
Iraola: There are things happening outside our control
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Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola admits he is uncertain about Antoine Semenyo’s future at the club but says he does want to keep his star player.
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola on Semenyo’s future:
“Antoine Semenyo right now is with us. He’s playing very well. My concern is that it doesn’t affect him. He’s played very well, he’s committed to the team and I hope we can keep him. There are things happening out of our control.
“Antoine has been performing very well. The level of consistency has been very good since the beginning of the season. He’s very valuable for us – not just the numbers, but a lot of things.
“You never know what is going to happen. In the summer there were a lot of movements. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the winter movements.
“At the end, you sign a contract and understand that both parties are happy. I hope we don’t lose him, but I don’t know, I can’t control what’s going to happen.”
Semenyo’s Bournemouth team-mate, Justin Kluivert, also told Sky Sports News: “He’s showed how good he is. He’s a top player. He’s one of the best attacking players in the Premier League.
“He doesn’t let it get to his head, which is a very positive aspect. We speak about all these things that are coming to him and he stays down to earth. He gives Bournemouth 100 per cent every day and that says a lot about him.”
Antoine Semenyo celebrates after scoring for Bournemouth
Merse urges Spurs to complete ‘statement’ Semenyo signing
Despite ending their pursuit of Semenyo, Paul Merson believes Tottenham are the perfect fit for Semenyo and has urged Thomas Frank to complete the “statement” signing of the Bournemouth winger.
“Tottenham. They need to make a real key signing that will kick them off. They have a wage structure at Tottenham and don’t really pay big money but this could kickstart them,” he said on Sky Sports.
“For me, I think Tottenham would be the one. It would be a statement for Tottenham; it would kickstart them moving forward for the next five or 10 years.
“Beat a couple of other clubs to him. He will play every week and wants to play football. You get the consistency of playing week in and week out.
“But I think he suits them. Chelsea have loads of wingers already, [Alejandro] Garnacho, [Pedro] Neto, [Jamie] Gittens and Estevao. Plus, he’s 26, I don’t see the sell-on.
“At Man Utd, he will play wing-back. That isn’t his favourite position. He won’t want to play wing-back.
“Man City, how long will Pep Guardiola be there? You sign a four-year deal and the manager leaves at the end of the season, who is to say the new manager will want him to play.
“Liverpool, maybe, but then you’re taking Mohamed Salah’s place.”
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Paul Merson believes Antoine Semenyo would fit in well at Spurs over clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool.
Carragher: Semenyo could be good way around Isak injury
Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher on how Liverpool deal with Alexander Isak’s injury:
“One thing for certain now, Mo Salah will be staying at the club. There’s a good chance Harvey Elliott would come back from Aston Villa as well.
“Whether Liverpool go for a striker or another attacking player like Semenyo, who Liverpool have been heavily linked with as well, we all know he’s got a buyout clause in January.
“Then you’ve got wide players, as in Salah and Gakpo, who’ve played a lot of games through the middle as well. You’ve got young Jayden Danns.
“That’s the way they could go around it because I don’t think Liverpool, when you go back a few years when they had a real problem at centre-back, they didn’t go and spend big money on someone they didn’t want.
“They won’t go out and buy a striker who they don’t really want. If they do want Semenyo, that’s probably a good way around it.”
