BENIK Afobe made a beeline for Bermondsey when his Belgian adventure ended before it had even started.
Afobe, 29, was set to sign for Club Brugge but the move to the 2022-23 Champions League participants broke down at the last moment.
They say you should never close a door on anything, and Millwall were waiting with open arms to welcome back their top-scorer from last season.
Afobe signed a one-year deal for an undisclosed fee as he moved permanently from Stoke City after his successful loan spell in 2021-22.
The Lions announced the signings of Afobe and George Honeyman (above, right), from Hull City, within minutes of each other on Tuesday afternoon.
Afobe had agreed a two-year deal in Belgium and passed his medical, before the move dramatically collapsed last Friday.
Lions boss Gary Rowett explained what happened next as Millwall moved for the forward.
“I spoke to Benik all the way through,” Rowett told NewsAtDen. “It’s such a difficult one because when you bring someone in on loan and you say we can give you that support and confidence and game-time to go and show what you’re all about – because before that obviously Benik had a tough few years – and when he goes and does it and does really well, you’ve got to accept that he’s done the job and is going to have options.
“I spoke to Benik all the way through, there were some options that came in quite quickly and quite strongly towards the end when we thought that we may have a chance of signing him.
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“And then of course fortunately for us it didn’t work out that way [the move to Brugge] and we were in contact and ready to go.
“I have to say, as soon as that move fell through Benik was straight on and he didn’t want to go anywhere else other than us. And he had other options, he had other good options in the Championship.
“That’s testament to how much he enjoyed last year and also how much he wants to kick on this year and be successful with us. That was great.”
Afobe scored 13 goals last season, nine of them after the turn of the year and six in his last nine games as Millwall took their top-six challenge to the last day.
Rowett added: “The second half of last season he showed that little bit more confidence. Maybe it took him that first half of the season to just get that confidence back. Players have runs and just need to find that in different ways.
“But I’ve always believed that Benik is a 20-goal-a-season striker. He’s capable of that and what we’ve got to do is give him the service, we’ve got to give him the chances along with the other strikers. Then he’s got to finish them off. We saw last season he’s got Premier League ability to go and do that.
“I’m excited about what he can do this season along with others.”
Image: Millwall FC
