Liam Manning full of admiration for Ayman Benarous as Bristol City confirm contract decision

Ayman Benarous will not be given a new contract by Bristol City, having last played a competitive fixture for the Robins more than three years agoAyman Benarous in action for Bristol City Under-21s(Image: Photo by Rogan/Bristol City)

Liam Manning admits that he has a “huge amount of admiration” for the way in which Ayman Benarous has coped with his injury setbacks in his time at Bristol City, with the Reds confirming the attacking midfielder will exit Ashton Gate as a free agent this summer.

Benarous, who joined the Robins’ academy as a seven-year-old, is one of eight players set to be released after City published their retained list on Saturday, with Kal Naismith and Stefan Bajic the other senior players to depart BS3 this summer.

The 21-year-old broke into the Reds’ first team under the management of Nigel Pearson in the 2021/22 campaign, but he hasn’t made a competitive appearance in a City shirt for more than three years after suffering successive ACL injuries, which were followed by a variety of other setbacks.

Having taken part in parts of pre-season last summer, the attacking midfielder sustained a hamstring injury whilst playing for the Under-21s against Sheffield Wednesday in August and only made his return to action with the Young Robins last month.

In truth, Manning has been able to see very little of Benarous in training since taking over in BS3 18 months ago. While the Robins head coach is keen to credit the academy graduate for the manner in which he has dealt with his repeated setbacks, he was also left impressed by the flashes of talent he saw on the training pitch.

“I have a huge amount of admiration for him in terms of the toughness, the resilience, and how he’s dealt with the injuries,” the head coach told Bristol Live at the High Performance Centre on Tuesday afternoon. “He stays so level, he’s been so mature about it all and realistic, I think as well.

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“I’ve got nothing but admiration for him as a person. His career won’t define who he is, I think it’s a part of his life, part of his journey, but he still harbours ambitions of playing and rightly so.

“It’s disappointing for him and for me that obviously it won’t be here in terms that we never really saw the best of him, but the little flashes of him when he was fit and training with us, he looked kind of like the type of player I’d like.

“It’s one of those where we obviously wish him well in the future.”

Benarous’ first team debut came in October 2021 as the Reds beat Barnsley 2-1 at Ashton Gate. The then-teenager came off the bench in the second half, replacing Tyreeq Bakinson, as an Andi Weimann brace saw the Robins end what was a 17-match winless run in BS3.

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The versatile midfielder then started three games in quick succession in November, playing the full 90 minutes against Stoke City and endearing himself to the Robins faithful when he kicked then-Blackburn Rovers forward Ben Brereton Diaz’s boot away after beating the Chilean international to a header late on.

Throughout the remainder of the campaign, he was in and out of matchday squads and signed a new three-year contract in February 2022. Now, with that deal coming to an end, he leaves Ashton Gate this summer with just 12 senior appearances to his name.

Though injuries have likely robbed City of what appeared to be an incredibly exciting talent, most supporters, and clearly Manning himself, will be desperate to see the 21-year-old get his career back up and running away from South Bristol.

Liam Manning full of admiration for Ayman Benarous as Bristol City confirm contract decision

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