Premiership New Boys: Christian Benitez

Posted by Trevor Cassidy in Featured Articles, Players, Premiership, Premiership New Boys on August 4th, 2009 | 3 responses

Lost among the hullabaloo of Real Madrid’s recent transfer dealings was the fact that newly-promoted Birmingham City smashed their own club record by spending nearly £8 million on an unknown Latin American named Christian Benitez. Looking for that certain something special in their bid to stay up this season, the Blues have clearly cast their line in the same waters where Wigan snagged their own Ecuadorian super-forward, Luis Antonio Valencia. Only time will tell if Benitez is the real deal.

Club: Birmingham City, by way of Mexican League side Santos Laguna. The Blues reportedly fought off interest from other European clubs to sign the highly-rated forward. Although let’s be honest, how much interest could there have been if he eventually ended up at Birmingham.

Age: Just turned 23.

The Upside: Quick feet, great skill with the ball, creative, and an eye for goal. Benitez scored 31 goals in 58 games for Santos Laguna over the past two seasons, earning the Primera División’s player of the year award in 2008. He could be a major shot in the arm for Birmingham’s hopes of staying up this season, and will give fellow forwards Marcus Bent and Garry O’Connor a good run for their money.

The Downside: He’s starting off the new season in the physio room. Having had a shoulder operation in May, Benitez has not been able to commence full training. (Although that didn’t stop him from playing in a charity match in Ecuador the other week. Tusk, tusk.) There’s also that dodgy haircut of his.

Pedigree: Benítez is the son of one of Ecuador’s all-time top scorers, Ermen Benitez, who in 1986 became the first Ecuadorian to play in Europe with Spanish Second Division side Jerez de la Frontera.

International Career: The youngster has already represented his country 17 times, including a brief appearance at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. And he’ll need to help Ecuador step up their campaign if they are going to get to South Africa.