Cardiff closing in on a deal for Semenyo’s talented young brother
CARDIFF City are closing in on the highly-rated brother of Bristol City’s Antoine Semenyo. According to our colleagues at Bristol Live, the Bluebirds have swooped in under the Robins’ noses and offered a contract to young right-back Jai Semenyo.
Semenyo junior has come through the ranks at SGS College Filton under the tutelage of former Leeds United manager Dave Hockaday.
Bristol Live report that he recently spent a four-day trial with Cardiff, training with the under-23s, and was offered terms to sign for the club.
It would represent something of a coup for the Bluebirds, with some big-name clubs also tracking the 17-year-old.
Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Crystal Palace and Southampton have all been keeping tabs on the Mangotsfield United player, but despite the proximity to Ashton Gate the Robins look to have been bypassed.
“He’s Antoine’s younger brother. I know the family very well,” Hockaday said.
“They were very happy with the way that Antoine has developed.
“It was always their plan for Jai to come and work with me – and he is an incredible athlete, incredibly powerful, very quick, with incredible spring.
“He needed to work more on the technical side which he has done and applied himself very well.
“And I’m absolutely gobsmacked that it’s taken this long for somebody to see his potential. He has been at a top Premier League club who wanted him back, but Cardiff have been very, very keen and have given him their word.”
The signing would tie in with Mick McCarthy’s move towards youth at Cardiff City Stadium.
Youngsters such as Rubin Colwill and Joel Bagan have been given an opportunity in the Welsh capital since the veteran manager’s arrival, and although Semenyo would likely go into the age-grade set-up under Steve Morison, it bodes well for the future.
The upcoming transfer window will be a frugal one, the key to it will likely be smart loans and good free transfers, but nevertheless, the squad needs some quality added to it.
Chairman Mehmet Dalman said as much on Friday night during an interview with the BBC. He even went on to say that as many as four targets had been identified and a bid had already been accepted for one player.
“We have identified three or four targets. A couple of offers have gone out – I believe as of this afternoon one was accepted - but we’ll see what happens,” Dalman told Radio Wales Sport.
“It’s no secret – we need to bring more quality into the team.
“Harry Wilson was a great acquisition for us last season.
“In fact I would say that the window last season was one of our best with the quality of people we were able to bring in, albeit on loan, and we need to fill those positions.
“We have lost at least two key players who were on loan.
“We need a striker to support Kieffer up top, who’s done a brilliant job for us; we still need a wide left, something creative in the middle – these are the minimums that we will have to consider.”