Crystal Palace consider £12million ‘gamble’ on Bristol City star

Crystal Palace are the latest club to consider a move for Bristol City striker Antoine Semenyo - according to reports.

The 22-year-old frontman came through the Robins academy and has established himself in their senior setup after spending time on loan at Newport County and Sunderland.

The forward has 12 goals and 20 assists in his 97 senior appearances and has attracted interest from a number of clubs in recent months, with the likes of West Ham United, Southampton, Brighton and Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest all said to have shown an interest.

Speaking at the end of last season when speculation of a move to the Premier League first arose, Robins manager Nigel Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol: “I don’t spend too much time worrying about that. I think we will, in time, have decisions to make on him but hopefully he’ll be here this year.

“Would I stand in his way of going to top a Premier League side? Absolutely not. But it would have to be the right deal for us, as a team. As a football club, the financial offset for losing someone like Antoine is going to be considerable and people need to be aware of that.

“We don’t want to be a selling club, we want to keep our best player, of course we do, but the reality of where we are is there are times when that stance will be stretched and it will be questioned, and what we have to do is make the right decision for us as a football club.”

Journalist Alan Nixon has now suggested Crystal Palace are ‘switching their striker search’ towards a move for Semenyo and revealed City would consider a deal worth around £12million.

Crucially, Semenyo has entered the final 12 months of his current deal at Ashton Gate and that could force the Robins to consider a sensible offer for the once-capped Ghana international.