AFC Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe has admitted that he reluctantly agreed to allow Benik Afobe to join Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan.
Afobe has angered some sections of the AFC Bournemouth support with comments he has made following his short-term loan spell to Wolves.
Despite having spent twice as long on the south coast with AFC Bournemouth, Afobe has described his return to Wolves as a return ‘home’, claiming that he cried tears of joy at the prospect of the move nearing completion as he waited in his car in Wolverhampton.
Afobe has scored once in 23 appearances this season and whilst there had been plenty of rumours linking him with a move away, Howe had previously insisted that he would remain in the squad.
But on transfer deadline day he did not travel to London with the rest of the squad for the fixture against Chelsea and instead waited for his potential loan move to Wolves, which was only agreed following the full time whistle at Stamford Bridge.
This whole Benik Afobe saga has finally made me realise how grubby the game is, if I didn’t already know. #afcb #wwfc
? Neil Perrett (@nperrettecho) February 1, 2018
Twice I asked Benik Afobe to speak to me in January and twice he declined, the second of which was after the FA Cup defeat at Wigan. His prerogative. He was happy to speak about his foundation when he first arrived at #afcb.
? Neil Perrett (@nperrettecho) February 4, 2018
If you think I’m going to tell you he was in Wolverhampton before #afcb had agreed to his move then you are very much mistaken.
? Neil Perrett (@nperrettecho) February 4, 2018
Crying tears of joy after securing the move. Do me a favour.
? Neil Perrett (@nperrettecho) February 4, 2018
Howe told the Daily Echo…
‘…Letting him go was a decision I didn`t really want to make but the player felt he needed football so it was something I reluctantly agreed to.
“He was keen to play and I think part of that was that he was keen to score and do well. You always want players to want to achieve individually, that has to be there. Sometimes you have to make them understand their opportunity will come and they have to be patient and develop behind the scenes. Sometimes they have to wait behind players performing very well ahead of them.
“But sometimes it`s very difficult to convince players of that if they don`t see an opportunity coming and I think Benik was in that situation.”
Your Say…
afcbh wrote…
Lost a lot of respect for him due to his comments regarding this move.
Not all that long ago it was him singing our praises that got us Jack Wilshere, yet now he’s begging to leave.
Glad to see the back of him now tbh. – Join the conversation here.
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