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Antoine Semenyo has taken to life seamlessly at Manchester City and is already beginning to repay the £62.5m fee handed to Bournemouth to sign him.

Semenyo scored and provided an assist in a memorable debut in the FA Cup third round on Saturday, though that 10-1 trouncing came against League One side Exeter City.

He then notched his second in as many games, scoring the opener inside the cauldron of St James’ Park, helping City take control of their Carabao Cup semi-final against holders Newcastle.

He later put the ball in the net again, a goal eventually ruled out after a lengthy check from the video assistant referee, before City sealed the 2-0 win.

The 26-year-old adds a different dimension to City’s attack, describing himself as “powerful, quick and strong”, as well as “clinical” – that last attribute could prove to be a vital factor in this season’s Premier League title race and City’s hunt for silverware.

“I was in the right area to tap it in and we were victorious so I am happy,” Semenyo said after the game. “The whole environment here is perfect.

“Everyone is confident and wanting to achieve the best. I have come into that and they helped with my confidence and made me feel welcome.

“It has been a lot but I have enjoyed it so far. I am picking things up very quickly and enjoying it. I am playing with a smile on my face and enjoying every moment.”

City’s goalscoring burden has fallen mostly on the broad shoulders of star striker Erling Haaland this season, with the Norway international netting 39 goals in 34 games for club and country.

But the prolific frontman has hit a sticky patch of late, scoring just once in his past six games and last scoring from open play against West Ham on 20 December.

Playing as a wideman mostly from the right, Semenyo’s proficiency in front of goal for Bournemouth has him on 10 Premier League goals so far this season, sitting third on the top-flight scoring charts behind new team-mate Haaland and Brentford’s Igor Thiago.

Haaland can not only expect a new avenue of goalscoring service – as showcased by Semenyo’s assist against Exeter – but that weight of finding the net can now be shared with a player who scored a total of 32 goals for the Cherries.

Semenyo adds a versatility to City by being able to play anywhere in the front three, enhancing the options available to manager Pep Guardiola.

The Ghanaian’s speed, direct running and cool finishing has already been displayed in Manchester this season, with a brilliantly taken goal against United at Old Trafford in the chaotic 4-4 draw.

Guardiola will be hoping his newest recruit can provide that sort of anarchy and unpredictability alongside the craft and vision of Phil Foden and the magic of Rayan Cherki in the final third.

City captain Bernardo Silva said: “He looks not just a very good player but also a very good guy, which fits right in with the team.

Though losing another of their star players will no doubt sting, Bournemouth have brought in a sizeable transfer fee for another player they have sold since the end of last season.

Semenyo’s sale provides a huge profit on a player they signed for £10m from Championship side Bristol City only three years ago.

The south coast side have now brought in around £250m since the summer, but have been stripped of another prized asset having already lost Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez and Dango Ouattara.

Semenyo had been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, but it has proven to be a tumultuous couple of weeks for the Red Devils.

Not only did they miss out on the forward to their bitter rivals, they also sacked head coach Ruben Amorim, with ex-midfielder Michael Carrick taking interim charge for the remainder of the season.

Carrick’s first game comes against City on Saturday and Semenyo could have graced the Old Trafford turf in a red shirt, but will instead head to the venue as an opposition player having already hurt the United backline this season.

Premier League leaders Arsenal are aiming for a first title in over two decades and hold a six-point advantage at the summit but will be nervously looking over their shoulders knowing one of their nearest challengers have strengthened their side.

City are now overloaded with players on the right wing, meaning one of Oscar Bobb or Savinho may well leave the club this January or in the summer.

Norwegian Bobb missed almost the entirety of last season with a leg fracture and is injured again – the 22-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund.

Brazilian Savinho is out of action too and has, at times, been unconvincing since his £31m move from Girona in 2024, struggling to nail down his place in the side, and Tottenham were in talks to sign him during the summer.

Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Newcastle in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final was overshadowed by a contentious decision to disallow a goal from Antoine Semenyo in the second half.

The £65m January signing fired City ahead on 53 minutes and thought he had added a second 10 minutes later when he flicked Tijjani Reijnders’ cross past Nick Pope.

However, the forward was denied a third goal in two games for his new side after a five-and-a-half-minute VAR check adjudged Erling Haaland to have interfered with play from an offside position.

“The second goal should have stood,” Semenyo said after the game.

Haaland was jostling for position with Newcastle’s Malick Thiaw when he was deemed to have obstructed the defender from stopping Semenyo’s effort.

Referee Chris Kavanagh watched the incident several times on the pitch-side monitor before announcing his decision to disallow the goal to the St James’ Park crowd.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Pep Guardiola said the disallowed goal will make his side “stronger”.

Captain Bernardo Silva also voiced his frustration with the decision, particularly after the Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel admitted Phil Foden was wrongfully denied a penalty in his side’s Premier League defeat at the same venue earlier this season.

“It should have been 3-0 but we are quite used to this at the moment,” said Silva.

“It is so frustrating because the last time we came here we also had a lot of decisions go against us.”

After a weekend where supporters enjoyed the FA Cup without VAR, this was the antithesis of the fans’ football experience at St James’ Park.

It took five minutes and 30 seconds from the moment Semenyo scored what he thought was Manchester City’s second goal until referee Kavanagh made the VAR sign to disallow it.

The job of the VAR, Stuart Attwell, was made harder because the semi-automated offside technology failed, as it did when the two teams met in the Premier League in December. The players were too close together, so it meant Attwell had to revert to the old technology and draw lines.

The decision is technically correct in law, because Haaland was offside and in direct contact with a defender who could possibly have stopped the ball going into the goal.

But fans won’t see it that way. They will see a perfectly legitimate goal with an offside offence which wouldn’t have been noticed but for VAR.

If the decision had been quick, there would have been much more confidence. But the extended delay adds to the controversy and gives the impression the VAR was not certain. It would have been better if the VAR had left this alone.

Former Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers striker Chris Sutton agreed with Guardiola and Silva and said Kavanagh’s verdict looked like a “sheer guess”.

“I think the game has gone,” added Sutton. “Is Thiaw really going to stop that? The distance from Semenyo is a yard, a yard and a half. Thiaw is not going to react to that.”

Ex-Liverpool and England midfielder Jamie Redknapp and Newcastle defender Dan Burn said it was the correct call to rule out Semenyo’s effort, though both criticised the process.

“If they had given the goal there wouldn’t be one person that looked at this and thought it shouldn’t have been allowed,” said Redknapp.

“But by the letter of the law, whether we like it or not, it is the right decision.”

Meanwhile, Burn, who missed the game through injury, added: “I do think it is the right decision, I just don’t like the subjective offside. It’s either offside, or it’s not.

“We don’t want to see that, but by the letter of the law it should be disallowed.”

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards said: “I understand the process but VAR wasn’t brought in for this reason here.

“This is anti-goal which they said they weren’t going to do, they said they weren’t going to re-referee the game.

Aman: Get rid of VAR! It’s a joke, the officials are trying to find reasons to not award goals! There was no reason to rule out that second goal!

Mick: The worst VAR decision I have ever seen. There are re-refereeing the game.

George: As fans we didn’t ask for VAR, it was pushed upon us and it’s ruined the game. As soon as the ref goes to the screen we all know how it’s going to pan out. It all just takes too long. Rubbish.

Finn: So VAR has decided that Haaland made Pope jump forward and try to stop the shot. WOW. Laughable.