Man City signs Semenyo from Bournemouth in reported $87M deal

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City signed Ghana forward Antoine Semenyo from Bournemouth on Friday to strengthen its attacking options ahead of the team's tilt at the Premier League and Champions League titles.

Semenyo, who has scored 10 goals and been one of the best attackers in English soccer this season, has moved in a deal worth a reported 65 million pounds ($87 million) and on a 5 1/2-year deal.

He'll provide competition to City's stock of wingers that already includes Jeremy Doku, Omar Marmoush, Savinho and Oscar Bobb, and could also be a back-up to Erling Haaland — the sole senior striker in the squad. Savinho and Bobb are currently injured, while Marmoush — currently at the Africa Cup of Nations — has been out of favor this season.

The 26-year-old Semenyo also was linked with Manchester United and Liverpool. He was at Bournemouth for 2 1/2 seasons after joining from second-tier Bristol City.

“I have so much scope for improvement," Semenyo said in a City statement, "so to be at this club, at this stage of my career, is perfect for me. It’s a real privilege to be here.

“My best football is yet to come, I am sure of that."

Semenyo marked his final game for Bournemouth by scoring a stoppage-time winner from outside the area against Tottenham on Wednesday.

“Everything just aligned," said the forward, whose two-footedness means he is a danger on either wing.

“It makes it so difficult for defenders to mark me – it’s my God-given talent," Semenyo said in quotes provided by City. “I feel very chaotic on the eye, just spontaneous and can do anything at any moment."

City manager Pep Guardiola has showed a willingness to play more on the counterattack this season in a switch of style and the club's director of football, Hugo Viana, said Semenyo was an “ideal” signing.

“We are constantly watching players all over the world. Antoine was the one we most wanted," Viana said. “He has shown he can perform in the Premier League. He is humble, hard-working, professional and totally focused on being a better footballer.”

Guardiola added: “He was extraordinary at Bournemouth and can play both sides. He uses both feet unbelievably. He can play as a striker too, with his pace. He knows the Premier League. Many clubs wanted him but he decided to join us.”

City is second in the Premier League, six points behind Arsenal in its bid to regain the title after relinquishing it to Liverpool last season.

Guardiola's team is fourth in the 36-club Champions League standings with two rounds of matches remaining in the league phase. The top eight qualify automatically for the round of 16.

Semenyo has never played in the Champions League. He could make his debut for City against Exeter in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday — Guardiola said Semenyo will be in the squad — and is eligible to play in the English League Cup semifinals, with City playing the first leg at Newcastle on Tuesday.

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Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo, right, and Tottenham Hotspur's Joao Palhinha battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Bournemouth and Tottenham Hotspur in Bournemouth, England, Wednesday Jan. 7, 2026. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Bournemouth's Antoine Semenyo takes a thro in during the English Premier League soccer match between Bournemouth and Arsenal in Bournemouth, England, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that he will allow service members to carry personal weapons onto military installations, citing the Second Amendment and recent shootings at bases across the country.

In a video posted to X, Hegseth said he is signing a memo that will direct base commanders to allow requests for troops to carry privately owned firearms “with the presumption that it is necessary for personal protection.”

He said any denial of a service member's request must be explained in detail and in writing.

“Effectively, our bases across the country were gun-free zones,” Hegseth said. “Unless you're training or unless you are a military policeman, you couldn't carry, you couldn't bring your own firearm for your own personal protection onto post.”

Questions about why service members lacked access to weapons have often emerged following shootings on the nation's military bases. Such shootings have ranged from isolated events between service members to mass casualty events, such as the shootings by an Army psychiatrist at Texas’ Ford Hood in 2009 that left 13 people dead.

Hegseth cited some of the events in his video, including a shooting that injured five soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia last year. Officials said the shooter, an Army sergeant who worked at the base, used his personal handgun before he was tackled by fellow soldiers and arrested.

“In these instances, minutes are a lifetime,” Hegseth said. “And our service members have the courage and training to make those precious, short minutes count.”

Defense Department policy has prohibited military personnel from carrying personal weapons on base without permission from a senior commander, with strict protocol for how the firearms must be stored.

Typically, military personnel must officially check their guns out of secure storage to go to on-base hunting areas or shooting ranges, then check all firearms back in promptly after their sanctioned use. Military police are often the only armed personnel on base, outside of shooting ranges, hunting areas or in training, where soldiers can wield their service weapons without ammunition.

Tanya Schardt, senior counsel at the Brady gun violence prevention organization, said in a statement that Defense Department leaders and the military’s top brass have opposed relaxing the current policy, which was originally enacted under President George H.W. Bush.

Schardt noted that most active duty service members who die by suicide do so with a weapon they own personally, not one military-issued, and argued that there will “undoubtedly be an increase in gun suicide and other gun violence.”

While fewer American service members died by suicide in 2024, the suicide rates among active duty troops overall still have gradually increased between 2011 and 2024, according to a Pentagon report released Tuesday.

“Our military installations are among the most guarded, protected properties in the world, and they’ve never been ‘gun-free zones,’” Schardt said. “If there is a problem with violent crime on these installations, then the Secretary of Defense has an obligation to alert the American people and describe how he’s working to prevent that crime.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to members of the media during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, Tuesday, March 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)