The high-risk Liverpool transfer swap deal that could change club's future

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Liverpool have been linked with a January swap deal with Bournemouth that could cost them one of their brightest talents.

Swap deals aren’t exactly common in modern football, but Liverpool and Bournemouth may be moving closer to just such an agreement according to a report from The Northern Echo – with wingers Antoine Semenyo and Ben Doak the moving pieces in a complex and fascinating deal.

For Liverpool, it would be a case of trading the future for the present. For a club within touching distance of a Premier League title, it’s coldly logical. If they believe that the depth and quality added by the 25-year-old Semenyo would make the difference when trophies are on the line over the next few seasons, then a talented youngster is a fair price to pay. But would Semenyo really change the script for Arne Slot? And is Doak too talented to let go?

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Is Antoine Semenyo good enough for Liverpool?

Semenyo, who is a truly two-footed winger capable of playing on either flank, would certainly offer depth for Slot’s side, but would he be capable of supplanting any of the current wingers available to the club?

One issue Slot has is that he is heavily dependent on Mohamed Salah down the right wing. Federico Chiesa was signed in part to balance out an attack which has more strength in depth down the left side, but injuries have prevented the Italian from playing a significant role. Semenyo would address that issue in the long term, and could compete for Salah’s role should the Egyptian leave at the end of the season when his contract expires, but stepping into Salah’s outsized shoes may be beyond Semenyo, for all his undoubted qualities.

The table below compares Semenyo’s output across key statistical markers for the 2024/25 season to some of Liverpool’s current options out wide. Semenyo doesn’t come up ahead in any categories (although putting almost any player in the world up against Salah right now is perhaps unfair) but does compare pretty closely with Cody Gakpo in terms of his strengths, particularly his ability to beat an opponent on the run.

All data above is from the 2024/25 Premier League season only.All data above is from the 2024/25 Premier League season only.
All data above is from the 2024/25 Premier League season only. | NationalWorld

Semenyo’s numbers may be depressed to an extent by playing for a slightly less successful side, but given Bournemouth’s recent successes and direct style, the comparison probably isn’t too unfair. Semenyo is an efficient goal threat and an excellent dribbler, but isn’t necessarily a significant improvement on the players Slot already has access to.

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One positive aspect of his game which isn’t flagged up in those numbers is his hard work tracking back and pressing the opposition. If we ran numbers for tackles, turnovers and the like instead, he would come out well ahead of every potential rival for a place at Liverpool except, again, Gakpo. The picture painted by the stats is of a player who has a broadly similar profile to Gakpo, but who can more comfortably play on the right when required.

That isn’t a bad addition to the squad as a whole, but doesn’t make Semenyo a player who is necessarily going to make a huge difference in the short term, either, especially with Salah the undisputed first choice down the right flank – and if Salah does leave, Semenyo only offers something like a third of the production. Replacing Salah perfectly is likely impossible, but if he did head off into the sunset then Semenyo alone is unlikely to cut it.

Should Liverpool let Doak leave?

The other half of the rumoured swap deal is 19-year-old Scottish winger Ben Doak, who has earned rave reviews since being signed from Celtic in 2022 and has already impressed with his senior national side. Currently on loan at Middlesbrough, Doak has been among the more exciting wingers in the Championship this season, too.

In many ways, he is following a broadly similar path to the one trodden by Harvey Elliott a few years ago when he shone on loan at Blackburn Rovers, although it is less likely that Doak, whose primary strengths are his speed and dribbling skills, will be repurposed as a central midfielder down the line.

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Liverpool have a clause within Doak’s loan deal that allows them to recall him in January so the fact that he’s away in the North East wouldn’t derail a potential swap deal over the winter – but is he on track to be a better player than Semenyo in the near future, and would he be a serious contender to take Salah’s spot should he leave?

It’s impossible to avoid pure speculation when assessing a player’s likely future, but there are a lot of signs that Doak is heading firmly in the right direction. His sheer volume of successful dribbles and chances created is enormous and considerably higher than Semenyo’s, albeit he is playing at a lower level of the game. His work ethic is high and in his brushes with high-quality players for Scotland he has impressed, particularly against Croatia in their recent Nations League encounter.

It’s not hard to imagine a future in which Doak is at least as good as Semenyo, but of course they aren’t the same sort of winger. Doak is much more of a traditional winger who is at his best getting to the byline, whereas Semenyo has a little more variety to his game and poses a greater goal threat coming inside. Doak is unlikely to become a more regular goalscorer than Semenyo based on what we’ve seen so far, and nor would he fit comfortably down the left flank. Then there is the serious knee injury he suffered last season which kept him out of action for seven months, which may register as a long-term medical concern.

If Slot feels that Doak is unlikely to be a strong stylistic fit for his team going forward, then this swap deal makes more sense, but as it stands, the Dutchman would have to be convinced that Semenyo can take a step forward in terms of raw output of goals and assists at Anfield in order to justify spending significant capital – a talented young player and probably a healthy amount of cash – to sign the Bournemouth winger.

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It would be a leap of considerable faith on Slot’s part, but Semenyo has steadily improved since signing with the Cherries, and perhaps Liverpool see another level to his game which hasn’t yet been unlocked at the Vitality Stadium. The question isn’t whether Semenyo is good, but whether he’d be worth a major outlay from a big club – and whether he can step up far enough to make up for Salah’s potential departure.

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