Bournemouth and Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo has opened up on his formative years at Bristol City, revealing he watched Chelsea and Arsenal greats Didier Drogba and Thierry Henry to improve his game.
Semenyo has been one of the standout performers for Bournemouth in the ongoing Premier League campaign, registering 10 league goal contributions thus far.
His incredible form propelled the Cherries to an 11-game unbeaten Premier League run, which was snapped by league leaders Liverpool on matchday 24.
Ever since his €10.3m switch from Bristol City to Bournemouth in January 2023, Semenyo has been an integral part of the Cherries’ success.
His impressive form this term has seen a host of elite clubs linked with a move for the 25-year-old forward.
His transformation from a sporadic player to Bournemouth’s talisman has not been seamless.
In June 2022, Semenyo suffered a shin injury while on international duty with Ghana, sidelining the ambipedal forward until September of that year.
Semenyo’s career, however, took a turn for the better as he was making his way back from the shin injury.
“It was actually one of the assistant coaches at the time at Bristol that suggested I should be watching a lot of clips from my idols. He suggested Embolo from Monaco. He felt like my play style is very similar, he told Premier League tv.
“I watched him, Henry and Drogba for inspiration; movement, working on heading, just footwork, just those sort of things. I used my time watching them. I was out for three-four months. It was a lot of watching. I use the time wisely to watch them and included them to my game,” he added.
Semenyo’s 10 league goal involvements have put Bournemouth three places off the Premier League top four and three points behind Chelsea as the Cherries fight for European football.
