Hughes Once Recommended Semenyo, Liverpool Missed Chance to Sign Manchester City's 11-Goal Forward for £60 Million

Liverpool missed out on a player they could have signed for £60 million. According to The Athletic, former Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes strongly recommended that the club sign Antoine Semenyo, but the Ghana international eventually joined Manchester City.

Hughes' knowledge of Semenyo was no secret — he had previously worked at Bournemouth, where Semenyo was playing at the time, and the player's contract included a £60 million release clause. Hughes passed on this information, but reports say his recommendation was not followed, and Manchester City won the race.

After joining Manchester City, he scored 11 goals.

Semenyo's performances at Manchester City have shown why the price was worthwhile. Since joining, he has made 32 appearances and scored 11 goals, including the winning goal against Chelsea in last season's FA Cup final.

Before moving to Manchester City, Semenyo had already proven himself in the Premier League — he was developing into one of the best attacking players in England's top flight. Anyone who watched him play could see this.

Liverpool spent almost twice as much money on an uncertainty.

Liverpool eventually paid a transfer fee close to double Semenyo's fee for Bradley Barcola this summer. The article stated that this decision came at a cost for Liverpool.

Barcola may eventually prove to be the better player, but for now the deal looks more like a gamble: the France international was not even a regular starter at Paris Saint-Germain and had never played in the Premier League.

By comparison, Semenyo had already clearly established himself in the Premier League before moving to Manchester City.

Salah is getting older, but the answer went to Manchester City.

The article also mentioned the wider context: Mohamed Salah is clearly getting older, and last season appeared to show that he was past his peak. In that situation, signing Semenyo in January last year and making him the new focal point of Liverpool's attack looked like an obvious choice.

Of course, given Semenyo's relatively low valuation at the time, other clubs also had the opportunity to sign him — especially since transfer market values have risen dramatically since then.

However, Liverpool may be especially frustrated because Hughes' strong relationship with Bournemouth could have given them an advantage in the race for the player — if they had actually pursued the deal.