In the eyes of many Liverpool supporters, the success of their season could hinge on the club having a successful January transfer window.
The Reds have been poor up to the midway point of the campaign and have a job on their hands to ensure Champions League qualification for next year.
January represents an opportunity to bolster the Liverpool squad and take a step towards that goal, with a forward addition seen as a priority.
Liverpool can only sign ONE player this January, which position should they strengthen?
Antoine Semenyo has emerged as a key target in that respect, but Liverpool had appeared likely to lose out on the Ghanaian to Man City.
Reports on Sunday suggested Semenyo’s move to City is not a done deal, however, and claimed that Liverpool could still make a late move to hijack the transfer. Assessing that possibility, journalist David Lynch has shared the ‘vibe’ inside Anfield on whether or not a move is likely.
Liverpool unlikely to sign Antoine Semenyo
The crux of the Semenyo deal appears to be that the player himself prefers a move to Man City over anywhere else.
As a result, reports have claimed that Liverpool are calling Semenyo to try and change his mind before making an official approach to Bournemouth.
According to Lynch, however, the feeling from those on the inside at Liverpool is that a move will not happen in January.
“I would be surprised, I have to say,” the reporter told Anfield Index. “I didn’t think Liverpool would sign Semenyo and I’ve never really been given encouragement [that they would]. He’s definitely a player they liked and have looked at but in terms of pulling the trigger in this window, that has never been massively encouraged.
“I did wonder if that would change with the Isak injury, but I’m certainly not getting that vibe at the moment, no one’s kind of putting that idea to me at all. I did wonder if some of those reports talking the Liverpool interest up was just hurrying Liverpool along a little, that’s how it kind of sounded to me to be honest.”
Who is the best signing Liverpool have ever made in the January transfer window?
“It would be a big shock to me if they do go and sign him from here. Given that the Isak thing doesn’t seem to have changed that stance, I think City are going to get a free run.”
Liverpool must move on from Semenyo
For some Liverpool supporters, missing out on Semenyo is going to prove a real blow. Plenty had convinced themselves that he and he alone could save their season.
However, Rousing The Kop has never subscribed to that view. The 25-year-old is a very good player and is displaying that this season, but is he really someone who can step up to the next level?
City clearly think so, and perhaps Semenyo will rock up at the Etihad and turn into a world-beating winger. But we just can’t see it.
Having failed to get him through the door, Liverpool must now look to other targets ahead of 2026. By the sounds of things a new arrival will not be coming in January, but come the summer, the Reds will almost certainly bring another attacker in. Quite who that is may become clearer over the coming months.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
