When Antoine Semenyo signed for Bournemouth, he sent former Leeds United manager David Hockaday a bottle of Champagne with the words “hunger and belief” on the label.
Those two words had resonated so deeply with Semenyo as a teenager that he felt compelled to reiterate them to the man who first instilled them in him.
Semenyo’s path to the top has been anything but straightforward, featuring failed academy trials, 5am starts for non-league football, and serious thoughts of quitting the sport entirely.
Now 26 years old, that turbulent journey has led him to a World Cup fixture against England on 23 June.
Born in London to Ghanaian parents Larry and Dela, Semenyo grew up in Greenwich alongside his brother Jai with a ball almost permanently attached to their feet.
His father, who played alongside Tony Yeboah in Ghana’s top flight, encouraged him from a young age to kick “paper, a can, anything” with both feet, helping him develop the two-footedness that defines his game today.
Trials at Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Millwall, and Crystal Palace followed, but none proved successful, leaving a deflated 16-year-old ready to walk away from football altogether.
It was Hockaday, by chance present at a trial session at Bisham Abbey, who spotted something that others had missed in the disheartened teenager.
“When I first came across him he was lost,” Hockaday told BBC Sport. “He looked lost. He talked lost. There was a vacancy in his eyes. There was no belief. He was looking for somebody to help find himself.”
Hockaday was not immediately convinced by what he saw, but something nagged at him long after the session had ended.
“I am good at spotting talent,” he said. “I’ve described Antoine to his family as an itch that I just couldn’t get rid of.”
He tracked down Semenyo’s parents, earned their trust, and brought the youngster into his team at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, who competed in the South West Counties League.
To get Semenyo to matches, Hockaday would drive to pick him up from Swindon at 5am on Saturday mornings, sometimes needing to knock repeatedly on the door to rouse him.
“I believed in him, without a shadow of a doubt,” Hockaday said. “I believed in him before he started believing in himself again.”
By January 2018, Semenyo had earned his first professional contract with Bristol City, and Bath City coach Jerry Gill later helped sharpen his physical game during a loan spell at the non-league club.
“He was a sponge,” said Gill, who moved Semenyo from striker to a wider role and was struck by his attitude. “He had that big smile on his face that you still see now.”
Former Bradford City striker Nahki Wells, who served as a mentor during Semenyo’s time at Bristol City under Nigel Pearson, described him as “a young player who was raw but full of talent.”
“It was very hard to stop that,” Wells told BBC Sport. “It was like a puzzle and he was just putting his pieces together to become this article that he is today.”
Something clicked under Pearson, with Semenyo delivering eight goals and 12 assists in 2021-22 before securing a £10m move to Bournemouth in January 2023.
His 32 goals and 13 assists in 110 appearances for the Cherries made him the standout performer in Andoni Iraola’s high-energy system and attracted the attention of Pep Guardiola.
A £65m move to Manchester City followed in January, with Semenyo going on to score 11 goals and record three assists before capping his domestic season by scoring the winning goal against Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley.
“When I see this young lad and I see what he’s created, where he’s got to and where he’s going to now it’s a bit mind-blowing for me,” said Hockaday, who still meets with Semenyo at the end of each season for a long conversation about life on and off the pitch.
“I just feel pride being able to say that I’ve been part of his journey.”
