England Under 17 International Benik Afobe has gone from strength to strength after exploding onto the scene with 40 goals in 33 appearances for Arsenal’s Under 16’s in 2007.
Benik was first introduced to fans on this blog, but he’s now considered one of the best young forwards in the country. The 2008-2009 season saw the Dagenham-born marksman made full time at London Colney despite being a schoolboy. He was also made captain of the Under 16′s.
Having single handily dragged the Gunners through two Nike Cup tournaments, he claimed the top scorer prize during the Zinédine Zidane Tournament and played a key part in the Atalanta Cup win. Benik’s quantity of strikes was only matched by the quality of his finishes.
With 120 goals under his belt for the Under 16′s, Steve Bould inducted the powerful forward into his ranks. His debut brought a vital equaliser against Fulham, and to really show his quality, the physically imposing striker added the icing to the Gunners cake when he scored on his Youth Cup debut at Sunderland. He finished the campaign as a bit part player for the Under 18′s but still managed 12 goals, making him the Reserves and Youth’s top scoring striker.
England recognition has followed, and with a pedigree of 4 goals in 3 games, the Under 16′s claimed the SkySports Victory Shield in convincing fashion. He went on to eclipse Jack Wilshere’s Reserves debut record, when he entered the field aged 16 years and 4 days. Yet the best from the 2008-2009 season was still to come.
Afobe shone when given a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to train with the Brazilian National team at Emirates Stadium. He got stuck in while rubbing shoulders with the likes of Ronaldinho, Robinho and Kaka, even bagging a classy brace against Inter Milan stopper Julio Cesar in a training game.
A powerful, energetic, strong and pacy forward, Benik, who was one of the players Arsène Wenger famously said ‘had nothing left to learn technically’, signed scholarship terms in June 2009.
Name: Benik Afobe
Nickname: ‘El Nino’
Age: 16
Nationality: English
International: Under 16
Position: Striker
Height: 180cm
Previous Clubs: None
Contract : Scholarship
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