Barcelona look to be attempting to get their own back on Arsenal’s ‘poaching’ of their young players in a copycat move which has seen them step up their pursuit of striker Benik Afobe.
The 16-year-old is currently in Azerbaijan with the England Under 17 squad where representatives from Barcelona are present to check on the forward. They saw him score two and make two for England as they romped past Kazakhstan, winning 6-2. Benik scooped the Man of the Match award and looked superb as the Three Lions began their qualifying round in rampant form.
A continuation of that form will only see the Catalan based outfit maintain their stance. They are keen to snap up Afobe who has been offered a professional contract ahead of his 17th birthday. Barça are ready to dramatically boost his wages to £5500 a week and offer him an instant chance to play for Barcelona Atlètic, the clubs ‘B’ team which plays in the Segunda División B, the third tier of Spanish football.
Atlètic coach Luis Enrique already has some exciting forwards at his disposal with the likes of Elvis Onyema and Jonathan dos Santos but with the squads roster constantly changing, Afobe represents a player for the future. More news is expected when Benik completes his duty with England where the once in a lifetime opportunity to join the European Champions could be on a plate for the Dagenham-based starlet.
Article By – J.Sanderson
J – in our long list of up-and-coming strikers how highly do you rate Benik?
Under no circumstances can we let them steal him.
All’s fair in love and war. If this kid is good don’t let him get away. many times promising stars perform well at the lower levels but wheh they get with the big boys they don’t perform as well. The competition is harder. Lets hope he’s a keeper. For the gunners need strikers. cats who can create and score.
What are Arsenal fansd called? Flamengo fans are called flamenguistas.
am sorry dude, in all this sort of competitions, most club are representated there. that is how we came about spoting Vela and the likes
@bobbygee
We are called Gooners or Gunners……
@bobbygee
Gooners, Gunners, N5ers.
Afobe going nowhere btw. Barcelona can fuck themselves.
we got fab fran & migule from barce
Is the kind of kid who will want to go abroad at such a young age?! What sort of family support can he count on? Can he speak Spanish? A think a change at this level is about a lot more than wage packets and playing for Europe’s champions.
English players never want to travel. I’m not too worried.
Hopefully we will keep Afobe as he is the best young striker we have
Surely Arsenal already have a pre-contract agreement with Afobe? IF so there should be nothing to it.
Yeah, 1 year scholarship and the 2 year pro-deal will kick in as soon as he turns 17.
Benik is a great prospect. Bracelona can fuck themselves in the deep shit. U bra wearing dwarf nuts(Messi et all).
According to the last Arsenal magazine Afobe has been at Arsenal since the age of six! That means this boy must be very good to be at this competitive team. Fuck the Barcelona “B” Team and let this born-goalscorer to entertain us in the near future if given the opportunity by the Mr Wenger.
sounds like a fantastic oopportunity for, if i were him i would take it.
J – Just a comment: Jonathan Dos Santos isn’t a striker, he is a midfielder similar to Deco
is afobe an arsenal fan???
because say i was playing for united chelsea liverpool city spurs etc and barca came calling i would defo move over there.
@ Aidvna, you are right. There are not many English players who go abroard. Wenger will sweet talk him into staying, by promising him Carling Cup football next season or the season after.
Let’s hope we keep him and he is able to step up to Premier league level.
He is average and wont make it here. He´s only about pace and power wait till he plays aggainst the big boys.
Young players come to Arsenal coz they know they will get a chance to play. Thats why Cesc and Fran came here. Nuffin to do with any affinity with the club.
#
Therefore, Afobe will know he has more of a chance of playin in our 1st team than barca’s and he is English too, so know adaptation time required.
Saying all that, Id be over to Catalunia in a shot! Top top city, climate, food, nite life and women!!!
well it’s a honor than such a top club like barca is scout benik, but for sure he will stay with arsenal….pro netx year,london born, gooner 4 life….no way he will go away from us
Barca should continue to search another forward ; )
English players never want to travel. I’m not too worried.
aidvna said this on October 27, 2009 at 1:25 pm
This is not true btw. Only in the past couple years has the league been the dominate one in Europe that players have wanted to flock to but go back pre-Woodgate&Owen@Real and you’ll find history doesn’t back up this statement. Hell, look at Pennant and the Glenn Hoddle Academy. Players can earn ‘more’ (well, spend less on tax), La Liga is obviously becoming the most exciting in the world and has the former Ballon D’Or winner, the current and the next. Lastly, Barca also give youngsters a chance in the first team if they are good enough and this season you are looking at Pedro making a name for himself. So Afobe, if he goes, will not see his career wasted as if he was a Spanish kid going to Liverpool or Chelsea. Lastly, learning a new language is not THAT difficult, especially when you are being paid incredibly well to live in a sunnier climate where the women are beautiful and the people more relaxed.
I’m not saying he will go. In fact, I can say with a 100% confidence that I don’t think he will. Looking at Wilshere I think those at the club know how to handle obvious talents well and if we can all go batshit over Afobe like we did with Jack, then I’m sure they know what sort of potential the lad has and are acting accordingly.
Barca is a great team but so is Arsenal. He have his friends here and a life and he seems to enjoy it here. I have no doubt that he will choose to stay and earn his wages here.
When I was a kid I always said I would choose a good job where I enjoy everyday ahead of the moneys. And today I have turn down a a few jobs to stay where I enjoy. I am 23 years old. Hopefully this kid will stay and relise that money is not everything and the women in spain is not that super hot as many may think. He has grew up in England and the climate shouln’t be anything to worry about. He can go on vacation 2-3 times every 3 months for 1 week or so.
Pingback: Barcelona Send Scouts To Watch Arsenal's Afobe « [» Young Guns «] | Soccer Yahoo !
Jonathan;
Must be great knowing everything about everything!
Samuel;
Come on mate, you cant really name hardly any English players who have gone abroad and succeeded. You’re kinda pissin in the wind there buddy! No oofence!
I know I would go, but I am a cosmopolitan kinda fella! And learning a new language is not that easy. Look at Gerrard and Rooney. They can barely speak English FFS!
Interesting to see the reactions with the boot on the other foot…
fuck off barca!!
cant believe wilshere aint playin tomorrow.
Is there any proof that Barcelona are watching Benik Afobe, because they could be out there scouting West Hams Robert Hall or Manchester Uniteds Ravel Morrison just as easily IMO.
J – the text of articles is now not visible using Opera on a BB. Can only read the comments …
I have it from a very trusted source that they are there just for Afobe.
j,do u think is there any chance afobe leaving us!
I have to say with the homegrown rules that are coming up Arsenal will be very proactive in keeping young rising talents like Afobe in the fold.
We didnt get Miguel form Barca. Barca released him and he was playing for a lower division spanish team.
@ J.Sanderson about the jeorge.wordpress comments
It this really going to happen in the next 24 hours or is this a wind up?
I swear you can’t sign professional terms in Spain til ur 18. That’s why we nabbed Merida and Cesc for peanuts. Over here in England it’s 17 til you can sign pro terms. If this is the case then Barca are gonna have to shell out to sign one of the top strikers in Europe at his age.
Exactly….he can’t get paid £5500 until he’s 18, and at that age there’s a good chance he’ll be making similar wages for Arsenal and playing CC football (Wilshere is reportedly in 5-figures per-week already).
Scouting him is a possibility, but saying it’s happening in the next 24 hours? Very odd and dubious.
I think that this kid could be a great midfielder for the big team one day.
The text also doesn’t appear on Google Reader.
It’s very unlikely that an english player go to Spain, there is only one at the moment I think and that is former Gunner Pennant.
Arsene will straighten that out.
Nvm, I think someone was just making a comment with J’s name. Apologies.
J cant read ur at article on operamini,can only read tha comments.whats up
Article on Ozyakup:
http://www.fifa.com/u17worldcup/news/newsid=1123974.html#the+oranjes+young+turk
Can’t see him going to Spain at this young age when he has all his mates, family etc here.
Jamie can you give us updates from U17 World cup? Damien martinez is playing and so are Hajrovic and Ozyakup.
Pingback: Scouts following Arsenal youngster Benik Afobe | totalBarça
It would not supprise me one little bit if Benik Afobe decided to join Barcelona, because i have lost count the ammount of times we have poached young players from other football clubs home and abroad, so it was only a matter of time before it happend to us oh the irony IMO Lol.
My thoughts simply say…B****R
Hi j- I am a big fan of your site and have been following your arrivals for ages. Recently I have not been able to read your articals in safari(iPhone). Can you check what may be causing this?
off topic, but I can’t believe Wilshere is out for tomorrow. That is depressing!
Money talks, I don’t know what his Arsenal offer is, but 5500 pounds/week is a lot for a 17 year old.
Lots of comments on this story!
Spike said this on October 27, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Some of the greatest British players to ever grace the game went abroad- Brady, Rush, Lineker, Greaves, Hoddle, Owen, Keegan, McMananan, Beckham, Hughes, Walker, Platt, Gascoigne, Aldridge, Keane, Ince. That is just off the top of my head. In the past two years Derbyshire and Pennant – not the most talented pair – have gone abroad to places where they have to pay less tax and thus can bank more. They are just the first of many we will see in the next decade, especially once clubs notice they cannot afford to pay the ridiculous amounts being bandied around at the moment or more.
i do kinda feel sorry for barca. Imagine if it had been the other way round and they’d taken fabz and merida from us, and for peanuts! I’d be pissed! But im an arsenal fan so barca can go fuck themselves if they think they can take afobe.
Pingback: Top Posts « WordPress.com
Kentpaul – I’m not being funny mate but sometimes i wonder if you really are a Gooner. I mean why would you find us losing one of our brightest talents funny? You say it’s ironic because we’re known for doing that but the fact of the matter is that we don’t hold a gun to the player’s head and force him to sign for us. AFC give the player and his parents the opportunity to come here and develop their games here. Some have chosen to do so and others have rejected the chance to. It’s entirely their decision. You go on as if we break the law or something and induce them to break their contracts or some shit like the Kakuta case.
Yeh maybe thay want him, but he is going no where.
We had the same bull about Inter wanting Wilshire before his 17th bday.
What is better for a young guy: Staying at a club where he knows all the staff, the language, the area, have friends, family, know the other players. Or leaving all this.
At Arsenal a younger player has more chance of making it into the first team at Barca.
Do you think that Cesc or Fran would have realy played for the Barca first team at their ages.
Barcelona “stole” Lionel Messi from newells old boys. This is football. Players come and go.
TJ DA GOON
Of coarse i am an Arsenal fan but that does not meen i have to agree with everthing that they do.
Just wondering, anyone think Afobe is one of the two kids that Wenger said have nothing to learn?
As a Brit, I can say Brits don’t travel well :P So I can’t see it happening.
Why the hell would he go to Barca? He knows that he won’t get a regular first team spot for at least 4 years. Also, he can sign his professional contract next year due to English laws, whilst he’ll have to wait longer if he plays in Spain. He won’t leave, especially if he’s been at Arsenal since he was 6!
Course he’s an arsenal fan he lives if he’s been playin for arsenal since he was 6 plus he’s from dagenham which means he will support arsenal, west ham or man u
people to read articles on their phone – on my phone there is an option at the bottom of the screen to leave the ‘mobile version’ of this website and go to the normal one. doing this enables me to read the articles hopefully this helps
Hakuna kitu kama hiyo.
why is vela not in tonights squad??
yeah can someone please explain this, its bad enough being without wilshere
I say if the boy gets a chance to go then he should, afterall nothing is certain in life, he may never get the chance to play for the Arsenal first team, bt if he goes to Barca and does well we can be sure that he’ll come back to London one day and play for the Arsenal
5k a week for a kid that cannot sign until he is 18… be serious, lol
gh
Pingback: Arsenal’s Afobe Heading For Spain After Barça Invite « [» Young Guns «]
..]other relavant source of tips on this issueis ,youngguns.wordpress.com,..]