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.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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)
GUATIRE, Venezuela (AP) — The United States and Venezuela said Friday they were exploring the possibility of restoring relations, as a Trump administration delegation visited the South American nation.
The visit marks a major step toward reestablishing diplomatic ties between the historically adversarial governments. In a brazen intervention last weekend, the U.S. military captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last weekend from his compound in Caracas and flew him to New York to face federal charges of drug-trafficking.
A small team of U.S. diplomats and a security detail traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.
Venezuela’s government on Friday said it plans to send a delegation to the U.S. but it did not say when. Any delegation from the country traveling to the U.S. will likely require sanctions to be waived by the Treasury Department.
The government of acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez said it “has decided to initiate an exploratory process of a diplomatic nature" with the U.S., "aimed at the re-establishment of diplomatic missions in both countries."
Rodríguez is engaged in a delicate balancing act, under pressure to meet the Trump administration’s demands and also win the support of Venezuela's military hard-liners outraged over the U.S. seizure of Maduro.
Her statements on Friday laid bare that tension.
Relating her telephone conversations with the left-wing presidents of Brazil, Colombia and Spain, she condemned Washington's “grave, criminal, illegal, and illegitimate aggression” against her country.
Later, in televised remarks at the inauguration of a small women’s health clinic in downtown Caracas, she emphasized diplomacy with Trump as the best way to defend Venezuela and even “ensure the return of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.”
“We will meet face-to-face in diplomacy ... to defend the peace of Venezuela, the stability of Venezuela, the future, to defend our independence and to defend our sacred and inalienable sovereignty,” Rodríguez said without mentioning the possible resumption of operations at the U.S. embassy.
President Donald Trump has sought to coerce Rodriguez and other former Maduro loyalists still in power to advance his vision for U.S. control of Venezuela's lucrative oil exports. The South American country has the world's largest proven crude reserves.
The U.S. and Venezuela severed ties during Trump's first term in 2019. The U.S. insistence that opposition leader Juan Guaidó was the rightful president of Venezuela enraged Maduro, who maintained his firm grip on power.
That year, the Trump administration shuttered the embassy in Caracas and moved diplomats to nearby Bogotá, Colombia.
U.S. officials have traveled to Caracas just a handful of times since.
The latest visit came last February when Trump's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, met with Maduro, paving the way for Venezuela's release of six detained Americans.
Lee reported from Washington. Megan Janetsky contributed to this report from Mexico City.
Follow the AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
Supporters of the Venezuelan government rally calling for the release of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were captured by U.S. forces, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
El Helicoide, the headquarters of Venezuela's intelligence service and detention center, stands in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, after National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said the government would release Venezuelan and foreign prisoners. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
FILE - A local walks past a mural featuring oil pumps and wells in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File)
A couple sits on a bench at a viewpoint overlooking the U.S. embassy, center left, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
The U.S. Embassy stands in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
FILE - Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez attends the High-Level Segment of the 28th session of the Human Rights Council, at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 3, 2015. (AP Photo/Keystone,Salvatore Di Nolfi, File)
Performers on stilts dressed as former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores wave during a march by government supporters calling for their release after U.S. forces captured them, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Supporters of the Venezuelan government rally calling for the release of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, who were captured by U.S. forces, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
