Wilshere states Benagr was never leaving despite interest in Luton starlet

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere admitted that the phone of youngster Benny Benagr’s agent would have been getting ‘pretty busy’ due to the interest in the Town starlet ahead of signing a new deal last week, but stated that the teenager was never going anywhere.

The 18-year-old was certainly well known to the club’s academy staff as having joined as an under-9 around a decade ago, coming up through the ranks to sign his first pro contract back in February 2025. A lengthy injury last term hindered his chances of making a breakthrough last term, but that finally happened when he headed out to Spain to train with the Luton first team recently.

Catching the eye of the Wilshere himself and the rest of his coaching staff, Benagr then made the most of his playing opportunities in friendlies against Al Kholood, Walsall and Go Ahead Eagles B, setting up several goals and also finding the target himself. It all led to a first team debut in the Carabao Cup first round trip to Gillingham last Saturday, as not only did he start the first round tie, but the youngster also scored his first goal for the club too, prodding in once Nahki Wells’ shot had been parried early in the second half.

A few days later and, with his exploits meaning his name was beginning to attract the attentions of some potential interested suitors, he was joining the likes of fellow teenage duo Christian Chigozie and Harry Fox in signing a new deal with the club. Asked if there had been any clubs looking to prise him away from Luton ahead of his contract being inked, Wilshere said: “I definitely think over the last couple of weeks before he signed his contract, his agent’s phone would have been pretty busy, because I wouldn’t say that many people knew about him, then all of a sudden he burst onto the scene.

"I’m sure he had a lot of interest, but after speaking with him, he loves this club. He had a really frustrating year last year and that hurt him. In his first year as a scholar, he felt like he was getting close and then to get an injury and get further away and not quite find your rhythm, it hurt him. He’s someone who loved this club. Yes, there probably was some interest in him, but he was never going anywhere.”

Going into a bit more detail on just how Benagr was able to come through, Wilshere was quick to praise the work done by the youth set-up, continuing: “The academy have done an outstanding job with him. When we spoke in the summer, it was about how does he get in front us, the first team, in his best condition? The academy took him for the first couple of weeks, built him up, and then we took him to Spain and every challenge, everything we asked him to do, he did.

"He showed his quality, and even when he was struggling at times in terms of the intensity and physicality, which is fine because he is a young player, but you want to see how they can adapt within that. So he’s still got some work to do, but again he’s someone who’s humble, someone who’s hungry to learn and improve, but he’ll definitely play his part this year.”

With supporters thrilled to hear the news that Benagr had put pen to paper, it means Town have a genuinely exciting crop of U21s at the club now, with Fox, Chigozie and Dawid Gawel all on the fringes of the first team squad, fellow academy graduate Jayden Luker also getting his first start last weekend.

Wilshere, who himself made his debut as a 16-year-old with Arsenal, feels that having such a conveyor belt of talent is vital in further boosting the link between the first team and supporters, that had eroded somewhat under Matt Bloomfield last season, saying: “I’m really passionate about that because of where I come from. I came from a club where that was the tradition, that was the DNA, to develop young players and give young players an opportunity, local players.

"Benny was brought up probably the same as many Luton Town supporters who had that dream of playing in the first team, going to watch Luton, trying to get there. He’s worked really, really hard and got his opportunity now and he’s taken it. So definitely the fans will love that one and it helps bring the fans closer to the team and they can identify with someone in the team like that.”

Although Benagr starred with a scintillating display, particularly in the second half, against the Gills, he might have to bide his time for his next opportunity to shine following the arrival of Emilio Lawrence, with the Manchester City winger likely to get the nod in Town’s opening League One encounters.

He is in Wilshere’s thoughts for that left-wing berth, as the manager made it clear once more how he hopes to play Gideon Kodua in a more central position, although knows it could be counter-productive to give him too much too soon, adding: “I like Gids inside. Gids knows that, he’s played on the left in pre-season, he’s had some really nice moments out there, and I think he’s improved a lot in that position from last year.

"However I do see him playing more inside, but there will be times this season where he has to play on the left. Benny has surprised probably a lot of people. I’d probably say especially last week because the challenge went up, it was a proper game and he thrived within that. So we need to keep giving him the right challenge at the right times and not just throwing him in and making him have to survive. We have to get that right, so Emilio and Benny are probably the two left wingers in the squad that I would say are proper left wingers, but Gids can play there too.”