Benjani Mwaruwari Bio Send To Friend  

Benjani began his career with Jomo Cosmos in South Africa before moving to Swiss club Grasshoppers for the 2001-02 season. He attracted interest from Auxerre and switched to the club in the summer of 2002 and scored nine league goals in 12 starts in his debut season but missed most of 2003-04 through injury.

Benjani, captain of Zimbabwe, had bagged only one goal in 2005-06 before leaving for Portsmouth. He scored 19 goals in 72 matches for Auxerre - including one in the 2-1 French Cup triumph over Sedan in 2005. He also won the French Cup in 2003.

Portsmouth smashed their transfer record in January 2006 when signing him for a fee in the region of £4.1 million and he made his debut for the club in a 1-0 home defeat to Everton.

The forward far from impressed in his few months Portsmouth, leaving many to wonder if he would turn out to be a very expensive flop. He scored his first goal in a 2-1 win at Wigan at the end of 2005-06 as Portsmouth amazingly survived relegation.

Benjani's next season was more promising, but a return of just six Premier League goals still left room for improvement. The doubters were proved wrong though as he began the next season on fire, scoring in the first two Premier League fixtures. He also bagged hat-tricks against Reading and Derby, meaning he had notched 12 goals before moving to Manchester City for an initial fee of £3.87 million, rising to a possible £7.6 million.

The deal nearly didn't go through as City apparently lost the papers to confirm the purchase just as Pompey filed theirs at 11.55pm on deadline day on January 31. It led to a Premier League investigation into the validity of the transfer, and it was eventually rubber-stamped on February 5.

Benjani's final game for Pomey was against Manchester United at Old Trafford - and it was also his first for City. And he acheieved instant hero status by bagging the the vital second goal in a 2-1 victory in the Manchester derby.

The striker scored only three goals for City in 13 games leading many to question his signing. And he failed to compete for a first-team place once Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz arrived.

With a loan move to Sunderland in February 2010, he gave himself a chance of playing regularly again, but (once again) the deal was delayed over his paperwork and not confirmed until a day after the window closed.