![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_Ayman-Benarous.jpg\")
Ayman Benarous in action for Bristol City Under-21s vs Millwall(Image: Photo by Rogan\/Bristol City)<\/p>\nAyman Benarous has been released by Bristol City having not made a competitive appearance for the Robins in over three yearsAyman Benarous in action for Bristol City Under-21s vs Millwall(Image: Photo by Rogan\/Bristol City)<\/p>\n
Ayman Benarous has taken to social media over the bank holiday weekend to issue a message to Bristol City<\/a> after the Robins confirmed the academy graduate will not see his contract at Ashton Gate renewed this summer.<\/p>\n Benarous, who joined the Robins’ academy as a seven-year-old, was one of eight players to be released<\/a> when the Reds published their retained list in the wake of their play-off semi-final defeat to Sheffield United, alongside fellow first-teamers Kal Naismith and Stefan Bajic.<\/p>\n The now-21-year-old broke into Nigel Pearson’s side in the 2021\/22 campaign but hasn’t made a competitive appearance in red and white for more than three years after back-to-back ACL injuries which were followed by a variety of other setbacks.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Ex-Bristol City favourite to join League One club upon expiry of contract with Championship side<\/a>READ MORE: ‘Feels like my home’ – George Tanner’s first words as Bristol City make contract announcement<\/a><\/p>\n Now, following his departure, the academy graduate has taken to Instagram to write a farewell message, saying: “As my time at Bristol City<\/a> comes to an end, I want to say how much of a privilege it\u2019s been to represent the club I\u2019ve been part of since I was seven years old. I\u2019m proud to have worn the shirt and grateful for all the memories made along the way.<\/p>\n “I want to thank my teammates, the fans and staff at the club for the incredible support I\u2019ve received, especially through the challenges of the last few years. I\u2019ll always look back on my time here with pride and without regrets. “Now it\u2019s time for a fresh start and a new chapter of my career, which I\u2019m really excited for. Looking forward to what lies ahead.”<\/p>\n Quickly, the attacking midfielder was inundated with messages from supporters and teammates, both past and present, alike. Anis Mehmeti, Zak Vyner and Ross McCrorie all left comments of support<\/a> while former City players Marlee Francois, Owura Edwards, George Earthy<\/a>, Naismith and Andy King were also among the first to react.<\/p>\n Join Bristol City Live’s Whatsapp community for all the biggest Bristol City stories sent straight to your phone<\/strong><\/p>\n Bristol City Live<\/a> is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our community.<\/p>\n Through the app, we\u2019ll send the Bristol City news, live match coverage, team news, transfers, fixtures, analysis and more straight to your phone.<\/p>\n To join our community you need to already have WhatsApp. All you need to do is click this link and select \u2018Join Community\u2019.<\/a><\/p>\n No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Bristol Live<\/a> team.<\/p>\n We also treat community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. If you don\u2019t like our community, you can check out at any time you like.<\/p>\n To leave our community, click on the name at the top of your screen and choose \u2018Exit group\u2019.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.<\/a><\/p>\n Click here to join our WhatsApp community.<\/a><\/p>\n Though he was limited to just 12 competitive appearances in red and white, Benarous left a real impression on fans and staff alike in his brief spell in and around Pearson’s side. The former City boss handed him his first team debut against Barnsley in October 2021 and he started three matches in quick succession just a month later.<\/p>\n Perhaps the 21-year-old’s most memorable moment in a Robins shirt came in that run of games when he rose highest to beat then-Blackburn Rovers forward<\/a> Ben Brereton Diaz to a header.<\/p>\n Having lifted the Ashton Gate crowd with his leap, Benarous cheekily kicked the Chilean international’s boot away after he had lost it in the challenge to kickstart a chorus of cheers within BS3.<\/p>\n Although City supporters never truly got to see the best of the England youth international, the majority will be hopeful, as Liam Manning was, that Benarous will be able to stay fit and carve out the sort of career his talent deserves away from South Bristol.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Ex-Bristol City assistant manager set for Reds reunion as 2025\/26 Championship line-up confirmed<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol City receive approach from Championship rivals for head coach Liam Manning<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ayman Benarous has been released by Bristol City having not made a competitive appearance for the Robins in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,2686,748,393,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-137161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-city-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114582419208239026","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/0_WhatsApp-Phone.jpg\")
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