*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:50, 31 August 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:12, 20 July 2024 (UTC)
Manuel Benson Hedilazio (born 28 March 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL Championship club Burnley. Born in Belgium, he represented it on junior international levels, before choosing to play for the Angola national team on senior level.
His father, Jorge Hedilazio, is a former Angolan footballer who played for Lokeren in the 1990s.[3]
Early life
Benson was born in Lokeren to an Angolan father, Jorge Hedilazio, and a Belgian mother, Gina Pieters.[4] His parents met in the 1990s at Bobby's Club, a dance bar in Lokeren, while his father was playing for the local club.[5]
Club career
Benson made his top flight debut, playing for Lierse, on 19 April 2014 against KV Oostende in a 2–0 home defeat. He replaced Ahmed Sayed after 87 minutes.[6] In the 2016–17 season he played 37 league games for Lierse, scoring 7 goals,[7] four of which in 9 Europa League play-offs games.[8] In this season Benson also tied with Kevin Kis for the league's top assist provider.[9]
In 2017, he moved to RC Genk, and was loaned out to Royal Excel Mouscron for the 2018–19 season. He played a total of 28 games for Mouscron, scoring 6 goals. Benson had the most assists in the regular season behind Hans Vanaken and Alejandro Pozuelo with 8.[10][11]
In September 2019, he moved to Royal Antwerp FC on a permanent move.
On 4 August 2022, Benson joined EFL Championship club Burnley for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal.[16] He scored his first goal for Burnley in a 2–1 win against Bristol City on 17 September 2022.[17] He scored his first FA Cup goals on 7 January 2023, notching a pair in an away game against Bournemouth.[18]