If you’re of a mind to discount Erling Haaland as an all-round footballer and still see him purely as a goalscorer despite plenty of evidence to the contrary this season, there’s a fair case to be made that Antoine Semenyo has been the Premier League’s best player this term.

Semenyo’s six goals and three assists puts him second behind Haaland (14 goals; 1 assist) in the Premier League goal-contribution charts and the Ghanaian passes the eye test with flying colours with his wonderfully rangey running style and an astonishingly rare ability to be just as devastating off his left or right foot.

Amid interest from Tottenham and Manchester United in the summer and Manchester United and Liverpool now, it’s a case of when and not if Semenyo moves on from Bournemouth, and The Athletic’s David Ornstein has revealed the 24-year-old looks set to leave the Vitality Stadium at the earliest possible opportunity.

Only a week ago Fabrizio Romano claimed it was “very unlikely” that Semenyo would leave in January, but Ornstein now says the Cherries ‘reluctantly accept they may be powerless to prevent his exit’ in the winter window, with his release clause ‘formally set at £65m’.

It would be a significant blow to Bournemouth, but they have arguably (and incredibly) improved having sold left-back Milos Kerkez, winger Dango Outtara and centre-back pair Dean Huijsen and Ilya Zabarnyi in the summer. And Ornstein added that the clause ‘must be activated by a specific date, which would give Bournemouth a couple of weeks to replace their best player’. Probably with another gem to be sold for huge profit in future.

The revelation is sure to bring more suitors than Manchester United and Liverpool to Semenyo’s door as £65m is a very reasonable price for a player of that much ability whose ceiling we suspect is yet to come into view.

But with one report claiming United are looking to act ‘fast’ to beat rivals to the punch and various others suggesting Liverpool have already made a bid above that asking price for Semenyo, the highly-decorated duo just above Bournemouth in the Premier League table on goal difference look set to be very much in the running if not leading the race in January.

It’s been claimed Liverpool would be Semenyo’s ‘top choice’ as he ‘wants to win the Champions League this season’, which is quite the flight of fancy. And if – as that report suggests – Semenyo is a man focused on the short-term, we would actually put Liverpool’s advantage over United in this fight down to their side being an altogether easier one to a) get into, and b) make a significant difference in.

While we’re not convinced Arne Slot has the stones to drop Mohamed Salah, such is the inevitable impact his sulking would have on the dressing room dynamic, part of the problem with leaving him out is there being no obvious worthy replacement for him. Let’s face it, the Liverpool love-in for Federico Chiesa is far more about the song than the football.

Semenyo walks into Liverpool’s starting lineup, in place of Salah on the right or on the left for Cody Gakpo, who’s been one of the Reds’ better players this season and is often picked out as a weak link when he’s in fact been the strongest, but doesn’t have the game-changing knack of Semenyo.

Let’s be clear, the Semenyo we’re currently seeing gets in the United team too, just as he gets in every Premier League team, and would cement Benjamin Sesko to the bench if Ruben Amorim was to play him down the middle in a position he’s operated in before.

But fast starts for Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo at Old Trafford means Semenyo’s inclusion in one of the inverted ten spots isn’t a formality, and is part of the reason why he wouldn’t have the transformative affect on United as he would on Liverpool, which really is quite something 11 games into the season after Arne Slot’s side doubled the Red Devils’ points tally in winning the title.