Few could have predicted the rise of Antoine Semenyo.
The Bournemouth star has been one of the shining lights this season having registered eight goals and four assists in the Premier League.
Three of those goals have come against Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea.
It’s a far cry from where Semenyo was less than a decade ago.
As recently as 2017, the 25-year-old was a member of South Gloucestershire and Stroud College’s football academy.
But Semenyo, who had trials with Tottenham and Arsenal as a teenager, was plucked from relative obscurity by Championship side Bristol City.
It was the chance Semenyo had longed for, yet there was one major issue.
He was, in former Robins boss Lee Johnson‘s words, ‘a couple of stone overweight’.
Speaking on talkSPORT’s Hawksbee and Jacobs, Johnson explained how it quickly became a club-wide effort to overhaul Semenyo’s off-pitch lifestyle and whip him into shape.
“He didn’t have the knowledge, did he?” Johnson said.
“He didn’t have the pedigree, he hadn’t really come through an academy. Like I say, he was playing at the college.
“Everybody at the club had to put a lot of effort in.
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“But at the end of the day, the player has still got to buy into that and implement those changes.”
Semenyo was more than willing to adopt the wholesale changes to his diet and it paid off as Johnson handed him his Robins debut in May 2018 against Sheffield United.
The 25-year-old went on to make 125 appearances and netted 21 goals for Bristol City across all competitions before the Premier League and Bournemouth came calling in January 2023.
The Cherries snapped him up for just £10.5m, but now look poised to make a significant profit given Liverpool and Chelsea are linked with a swoop for Semenyo, while talkSPORT understands Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr are interested in the player too.
Should a move to an English giant eventuate, few would be happier than Johnson.
“It’s great to see,” Johnson said.
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“When you see young players that you’ve given debuts to go on and do really well it’s really rewarding.”
Johnson added: “It just goes to show that talent is everywhere and you can’t be closed off to recognising that talent.
“Give them the right environment, develop them and you’ve got a right chance.”