Semenyo shines to tempt Man City into accepting ‘world-record bid’ from Real Madrid
Salford City gave as good as they got against Man City until Antoine Semenyo came on to change the game and push Phil Foden back into the doldrums.
Manchester City ‘enjoying’ 85 per cent possession and making 370 successful passes to Salford City’s 29 in the first half at the Etihad offered an excellent Magic Of The Cup marker for a giant-killing. Salford having the same number of shots (4) as the their notorious neighbours and the only shot on target while Pep Guardiola’s side did their aimless passing from side to side bit granted space for dreams of the monumental upset despite the League Two going in behind at the break.
The floodgates should have opened when Rayan Ait-Nouri’s cross was turned into his own net by Tottenham loanee Alfie Dorrington. City beat Salford 8-0 in the third round just over a year ago. They beat Exeter 10-1 last month. But a front four of Omar Marmoush, Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders were horrible passive and short of ideas against a dogged Salford team which grew in confidence thanks to the inertia of their opponents.
“I have told the players if someone had told me we would concede eight goals in seven games I would have taken it. I just didn’t expect it to be all in one match,” Karl Robinson joked after that 8-0 defeat to City last year. Asked what lessons he learned from the defeat, he added: “Not to win the second round!”
But the Salford boss will be delighted they made it through the third round this season and had the opportunity show that he and his players had learned plenty from that battering.
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City never came under any real pressure. Trafford produced a decent save to deny Ben Woodburn and Brandon Cooper headed wide in the first half, but it was hard to see where the equaliser was coming from before a quick free-kick from the hosts saw Cherki then cross for Marc Guehi, who put the game to bed when he tapped the ball home at the back post.
The hosts could and perhaps should have scored two or three more in the second half, in part no doubt because of tiring League Two legs, but there was also a direct correlation between the increase in attacking fluency and threat and Antoine Semenyo’s introduction in place of Phil Foden.
While Semenyo has hit the ground running following his £60m move from Bournemouth with five goals and two assists in eight appearances, Foden finds himself in another rut – albeit with some brief relief courtesy of Fulham – significant enough to make a reported ‘world-record bid’ from Real Madrid for his services a hugely intriguing option for a football club which no longer counts on him as a key player, or even a regular member of the first XI.
His Transfermarkt value now stands at just £70m after peaking at £130m under two years ago. His decline has been rapid and substantial. And having admitted to struggling with his mental health in what was a very poor season by his standards in 2024/2025, after a purple patch at the turn of the year which saw him score six goals in just four Premier League games, he now looks firmly back in the doldrums.
That form earned him an England recall, but the chances of him retaining that spot amid the return to form of Cole Palmer look slim to none on the basis of his current form and his performances for the majority of the last two seasons.
Manchester City progress, Salford impress and Foden regresses.
