Less than a week after the welcome news that promising right back Roman Dixon was committing his long term future to Everton, Paul Tait’s Under-21 squad will be further strengthened with the addition of a young striker just released by Arsenal FC, Omari Benjamin.
The 18 year old is not a complete stranger to the Toffees as he was on trial with the club in the spring as it was already known that he would be getting released.
It is most definitely no reflection on his ability, as Arsenal have released another pair of highly promising players in right back/ centre back Reuell Walters and winger Amario Cozier-Duberry . Both those players had some brief exposure in Arsenal’s first team and would be similar welcome additions at this level. Get talking to the gaffer Omari and get your mates in! Benjamin, who has made the move will, I am sure, prove to be a good signing.
So, what do we know about Benjamin? Well, he played 74 minutes in the famous blue shirt in early March against Tottenham Hotspurs Under 21s and he scored a typical striker’s goal. It was the winning goal and if you want to fast forward the clip below to 2 minutes you’ll see it was a typical poacher’s goal. Getting into the right position and having aniticipation are good assets to have!
He is a Wales Under 19 international having played 5 times for them, scoring once. He seems fully pledged at national level to Wales as he has played every youth level since the Under 16s and had an especially good return with the Under 17s playing 7 and scoring 3 goals.
He’s played most games as a centre forward playing 27 times (mainly at Under 18 level) and scoring 10 goals with 4 assists, a decent return. Intriguingly, he has also played as a left winger at that level, playing 7 games and scoring a remarkable 6 goals from that starting position. In total, if you add in the trial game with Everton, scoring 17 goals in 35 matches means that you don’t have to be the world’s greatest mathematician to see that the ratio is 1:2. Highly impressive at any level.
As a 5’8” striker in a Dyche team environment, he is unlikely to be leading the line on his own but, at 18, he already has a muscular physique and is built to withstand the buffeting he will get at Under 21 level. I think that level is where he will be next season rather than an immediate first team contender, but with the goalscoring track record he has, who knows?
Benjamin, who signed a 3 year contract is clearly excited to be swapping red for blue. He told the official Everton website:
“This is a really exciting opportunity for me. I’m keen to show what I can do on the pitch and excited at what is to come at Everton.
“When I came here on trial, the boys and staff were really nice, there was a good feel to the Club and everyone was really welcoming so it made to easy to sign here.
“I’d say I’m an exciting forward who likes to drive at opponents and score goals.
“I’m really keen to get started. This season, I just want to show what I can do and then, longer-term, get a chance to impress in the Senior Team set-up and, one day, play for Everton and help the Club as much as I can.”
Good luck Omari (and don’t forget to mention your mates are also available)!