Manchester City forward Antoine Semenyo has described new manager Enzo Maresca’s tactical approach as “music to my ears,” following early indications of his role under the Italian manager.
Although Manchester City suffered a penalty shootout loss to Inter Milan in Hong Kong during Maresca’s managerial debut after replacing Pep Guardiola, the team displayed the direct attacking intent the new boss intends to deploy. Semenyo played the opening 45 minutes, troubling Inter defender Andy Diouf with his pace and direct play while helping to set up Divin Mubama’s goal. Substitute Ryan McAidoo also delivered a strong performance, prompting Maresca to comment afterward that they represent the “kind of wingers I love”—specifically players who are “very aggressive” and attack opponents in “one-v-one” situations.
Reflecting on Maresca’s arrival, Semenyo noted his initial reaction to the appointment.
“When he got appointed, that was the first thing I thought about because when you’ve played Chelsea previously when he was there, his wide men were always high and quite free,” Semenyo said. “So that was one of the things that excited me the most when he got appointed and it’s exciting for me as a winger. I get to have one-v-one situations most of the game and I am looking forward to it.”
He added: “I have had individual meetings with him on how he wants to set up, how he wants to play his wide men and just overall as a team. I think his ideas are great, quite similar to Pep, but if you watched the [Inter] game, you would have seen a couple of his ideas play out and it was good. Enzo is just [stay] out wide and when you get the ball, just create opportunities. So it is music to my ears.”
Semenyo joined Manchester City from Bournemouth in a £65 million transfer during the January window, with City securing his signing despite interest from Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, and Manchester United. Initial discussions began in early December before the player committed to the move the following month.
“I owe them everything to be honest,” Semenyo said of Bournemouth. “They helped my Premier League career flourish and obviously the management, the staff behind the scenes, they were all amazing, they made everything so smooth.”
The forward scored 21 goals for club and country last season, lifting the Carabao Cup and scoring the winning goal in an FA Cup final victory against Chelsea, an achievement he called a “dream come true.”
Speaking at Ahmad Tea’s Preparation is Everything event in Hong Kong, he said: “I think for me, I just wanted the next step to be the big one and Manchester City was the option. Pep spoke to me beforehand and he said, ‘look, when you come, I am going to make you a better player’.”
“You want to get better, you want to improve every season and he definitely helped me with that in the first five months, but obviously sad for him to leave.”
Beyond football, Semenyo is a devout Christian who features faith-based tattoos across his body. He was baptised by a local pastor last December after previously being unable to do so due to his football schedule.
“I know that I am obviously walking with God at the moment, and I want to maximise my faith as much as I can, so practising gives me the opportunity to do that,” Semenyo stated. “When I got the opportunity, I made sure I took it. I am so happy I have done it and I am in the walk of faith now and it’s been amazing.”
He regularly prays before matches and in team hotels alongside teammates Jeremy Doku and Marc Guehi to gain “maximum strength.”
When asked if his faith takes precedence over football, Semenyo replied: “Yeah, 100%. I wouldn’t be here without him [God], so there is always going to be faith and football after. I think God gave me the talent to be a footballer; he gave me all the skills, he gave me the mindset and the mentality, so I owe it to him to perform and maximise his words to the world.”