Arsenal and Spurs once rejected player who wasn’t ‘good enough’, now he’s one of the Premier League’s best

Arsenal and Tottenham once rejected a player who has now scored 39 Premier League goals and counting.

Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur once famously rejected Antoine Semenyo as a teenager, and the Ghanaian has since established himself among the Premier League's elite.

Semenyo joined Manchester City from Bournemouth for around £65million in January after spending an incredible three years at Bournemouth, where his pace, power, and ability with both feet helped him become one of the league's most potent forwards.

Although the 26-year-old suffered an impact injury to his knee and lower leg in City's 3-2 victory over Ipswich Town on October 17, the versatile attacker did enjoy a proficient beginning to his City career, scoring 13 and assisting six in his first 37 appearances for the club.

READ NEXT: Why Antoine Semenyo plays for Ghana despite being born in England

Man City's No.42 is targeting a return in mid-December and will want to pick up where he left off under Enzo Maresca after producing five goal involvements – including a brace against Sunderland – in his opening seven Premier League matches this term.

An excellent start to life at the Etihad Stadium only demonstrates how far Semenyo has come since being rejected by five different clubs before joining Bristol City.

Semenyo's rise to Premier League stardom is famous for the intense string of rejections he faced as a teenager in South London. Starting as a 14-year-old on trial at Arsenal and then Tottenham, Semenyo was turned down because he was a late developer, with both clubs overlooking his technical ability due to his self-proclaimed "small and chunky" physical stature.

Less than a year later, the Ghanaian failed trials at Fulham and Millwall before almost giving up on football at the age of 15 after being rejected by Crystal Palace following an extensive eight-week trial.

"I went to quite a few clubs and was told the same thing that I wasn't good enough. It's tough as a kid hearing that," Semenyo told Sky Sports in March 2024.

"Palace hit me hard the most because I was there for so long. My trial got extended and I thought I was going to be signed – and it didn't happen.

"I remember getting into the car crying and saying to my dad, 'Why does this keep happening?'. I stopped playing football for a year after that. I didn't play any sport, I put on a lot of weight. I didn't think I'd be here, but God works in mysterious ways."

During his unsuccessful trial periods at Arsenal, Tottenham and Millwall, Semenyo was playing for local side Kingfisher before David Hockaday, once Leeds United manager for 70 days, convinced him to join his college program in Swindon.

After leaving home at the age of 16, Semenyo took the jump, earning a BTEC in sports science while playing for Hockaday at the South Gloucestershire and Stroud College. There, his talents stood out like a sore thumb, and he was eventually snapped up by Championship side Bristol City on a four-year deal in September 2017.

Semenyo would spend six years at Ashton Gate, which included loan spells at Newport County and Sunderland, before quickly showing why he was too good for the second tier after being told he was the opposite by other clubs.

The rest, as they say, is history, and the 38-cap Ghanaian international joined Bournemouth in January 2023 for £9million, rising to £10.5million with add-ons.

The Cherries then made a £55million profit on their initial investment three years later after watching him plunder 32 goals and 13 assists in 110 appearances for the club.

READ NEXT: James Hill's remarkable journey to first England call-up should inspire a generation

Topics: Premier League, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur

Thomas Griffin is a Journalist at SPORTbible, with a particular focus on football, darts and tennis. Thomas specialises in unearthing untold stories while offering in-depth analysis on a variety of topics across different sports. He graduated with a BA Hons (2:1) in English Language from the University of Hull and has previously written for Flashscore, GRV Media, Reach PLC and more. Thomas regularly appears on BBC Radio Humberside and has interviewed some big names in sport, including Luke Littler, Luke Humphries and Nikola Jokic.

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