Nuno Espirito Santo
Benik Afobe’s second Wolverhampton Wanderers exit is still bewildering to think about. The striker helped Wolves win promotion to the Premier League whilst on loan from Bournemouth and sealed a permanent transfer, only to be sold 11 days later.
Benik Afobe said: “What!? Have you got the right player?”
Wolves paid £10million to sign Afobe from Bournemouth in 2018 and made a quickfire £2million profit when they sent him up the road to Stoke. The 28-year-old, who is currently on loan at Turkish club Trabzonspor after an unsuccessful spell in the Potteries, has now revealed all about the bizarre events which led to the swiftest transfer exit most of us can remember.
Benik Afobe said: “I was on loan to Wolves from Bournemouth and everyone thought I had to play a certain amount of games for Wolves to sign me, but it wasn’t like that Obviously they were top of the league so it was hard to break into the team, but I started seven and got six goals, so I did well. When the season finished I got a phone call saying, ‘Wolves want to sign you’. Obviously, they’re in the Prem, I love Wolves and enjoyed my time there the first time and the second time with Nuno. So I’ve signed the contract and then a couple of days later I’m getting a message saying, ‘I think Nuno wants to sell you’. I was like, ‘What!? Have you got the right player?’ They went, ‘He’s bringing in (Raul) Jimenez’. At the time Jimenez wasn’t really a bad boy like he is now. ‘He’s saying that you’re not going to play next season’. So I said, ‘What if I’m training really well, I’m on it and one of the best players in training, I still won’t play?’ He said, ‘No, you’re not going to play at all. You’re going to be with the under-23s.’
