Many players have come and gone through the doors at Sunderland over the years, but one former loanee who struggled on Wearside is now being touted for a £50m move to Liverpool.
Thankfully, the current Sunderland squad are performing a lot better than their counterparts of a few years ago, and are now challenging for promotion to the Premier League this season.
Regis Le Bris has his players firing on all cylinders, and what is particularly impressive is how quickly the young players have developed under the Frenchman.
In the past, Sunderland have had players on loan that have performed brilliantly, like the ‘amazing’ Amad Diallo for example. But not every loan move has been successful.
Antoine Semenyo struggled at Sunderland
Back in January 2020, with Sunderland fighting it out in League One, the Black Cats borrowed Antoine Semenyo from Bristol City for the second half of the 2019/20 season.
Semenyo made just seven appearances for the Mackems and didn’t manage to get a goal in his brief spell at the Stadium of Light.
Back at the time of his signing, Semenyo was described as an ‘exciting prospect’ by Newport County expert Andrew Penman, after the winger had enjoyed a fruitful spell with the Welsh outfit in the past.
Sadly, Sunderland did not see anything of the sort from the Ghanaian. To be fair to Semenyo, he was young and very raw at the time, and it’s hard to judge a player based on just seven games.
He returned to Bristol City after making a poor impression in the North East, but would eventually go on to make the switch to Bournemouth, and the rest is history, as they say.
Liverpool now looking to make £50m swoop for Semenyo
Semenyo cost Bournemouth £10.5m in January 2023, but the Cherries are now looking at potentially picking up a cool profit from the 25-year-old.
As per the Northern Echo, Liverpool are considering using Middlesbrough loanee Ben Doak as a makeweight in a swap deal for Semenyo.
The player is thought to be valued at £50m by Bournemouth, but with Liverpool unwilling to meet that price tag, they are looking at alternatives to a more simple package, and Doak could make the difference.
It’s hard to attribute Semenyo’s spell at Sunderland as a factor behind his emergence as a genuine Premier League star, but it is interesting that the Black Cats continue to be involved in development of top talent in some way, shape, or form.