Benik Afobe

Arsenal

Early career

Afobe signed a professional contract with Arsenal in February 2010, after reportedly being targeted by Barcelona. The Guardian called him "powerful and pacy" and commented that he "is already being furtively whispered up as the next big thing." On 2 November 2010, he agreed on terms to join League One club Huddersfield Town on loan until December 2010. He made his debut as a substitute the same night, coming on in the 64th minute for Joe Garner in the 2–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough Stadium. After the game, Huddersfield manager Lee Clark praised Afobe, calling him "another fantastic young player from the Arsenal production line." Afobe scored his first goals in professional football as Huddersfield beat Rotherham United 5–2 away from home in the Football League Trophy. He made it 3–1 with a clinical header inside the box, before finishing off the scoring with a well-taken finish in the second half. Following a broken leg to Anthony Pilkington, Afobe got an extended run in the Huddersfield starting line-up in the second half of the season which saw him pick up four Man of the Match awards in a row, which also included 5 goals and a number of important assists, taking Huddersfield's unbeaten record from December to 24 league games. Despite his and Huddersfield's great form, they narrowly missed out on automatic promotion and lost in the final of the play-offs. In total he made 32 appearances with 8 goals and 10 assists…

England youth levels

Afobe captained England under-12s at the Junior World Cup in France in 2005. In 2008, Afobe was part of the England under-16 team that won the Victory Shield, scoring four goals in three games. He was also part of the England under-17 squad that won the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. The Guardian's sports blog called him "among the best of the crop" and "a prolific striker". He joined the England under-19 squad in August 2010. In June 2011, Afobe was called up to the England under-20 team for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia. However, he was withdrawn from the squad by Arsenal to join the first team pre-season camp in Germany. Afobe was also called up to replace Manchester United's Danny Welbeck from England U21s in August, however he pulled out due to a groin injury. On 18 June 2015, he was called up to replace injured Saido Berahino at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Afobe also qualified to represent DR Congo through his parents. He was called up to the DR Congo national team, for 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches against Angola in March 2016. In November 2016, Afobe revealed that he had not yet been able to make an appearance for DR Congo due to a hold up with the paperwork. In January 2017, Afobe pulled out of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations to focus on breaking into the starting XI at Bournemouth. Afobe scored on his debut for DR Congo in a 2–0 friendly win…

Afobe is of Malagasy and DR Congolese descent and has two daughters with his partner Lois. He had a daughter named Amora, who died in November 2019 at the young age of two. Amora died in hospital due to her unexpectedly having sepsis. He has another daughter, who is named Alba who at the time of her older sister's death was only one year old. Afobe is a Christian.

Afobe was born in Leyton, London, to Malagasy and Congolese roots, and grew up in Dagenham where he attended Monteagle Primary School and the Jo Richardson Community School. He joined the Arsenal Academy when he was six; he was playing for Sunday league team Eclipse FC in Dagenham when he was spotted by an Arsenal scout – Gary Nott. He joined Arsenal on 1 May 2001. He scored 40 goals for the U-16s in 2007–08, 11 goals in 13 appearances in 2008–09, and 21 goals in 24 appearances for Arsenal U-18 in 2009–10. He was voted Arsenal's U-18 player of the season.