Manuel Benson

Manuel Benson Hedilazio (born 28 March 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Burnley. Born in Belgium, he plays for the Angola national team.

Manuel Benson

Personal information
Full name	Manuel Benson Hedilazio[1]
Date of birth	(1997-03-28) 28 March 1997 (age 28)[2]
Place of birth	Lokeren, Belgium
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Burnley
Number	27
Youth career
2003–2007	Lokeren
2007–2010	Anderlecht
2010–2014	Lierse
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2017	Lierse	68	(9)
2017–2019	Genk	11	(0)
2018–2019	→ Royal Excel Mouscron (loan)	26	(4)
2019–2022	Royal Antwerp	51	(5)
2021	→ PEC Zwolle (loan)	13	(0)
2022–	Burnley	44	(12)
International career‡
2014	Belgium U19	2	(0)
2017–2019	Belgium U21	2	(0)
2024–	Angola	4	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10:53, 14 April 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 09:05, 26 March 2025 (UTC)

Early life

Benson was born in Lokeren to an Angolan father, Jorge Hedilazio, and a Belgian mother, Gina Pieters.^[3] His parents met in the 1990s at Bobby's Club, a dance bar in Lokeren, while his father was playing for the local club.^[4]

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.^[5] In the 2016–17 season he played 37 league games for Lierse, scoring 7 goals,^[6] four of which in 9 Europa League play-offs games.^[7] In this season Benson also tied with Kevin Kis for the league's top assist provider.^[8]

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.^[9][10]

In September 2019, he moved to Royal Antwerp FC on a permanent move.

In the 2020–21 season, Benson played five games in the Belgian First Division A and 3 games in the UEFA Europa League, scoring one goal in Antwerp's 3–1 win over Ludogorets, which allowed them to advance to the Round of 32.^[11] On 26 January 2021, Benson moved to Eredivisie club PEC Zwolle on a loan deal until the end of the season.^[12] He had the most assists of his team in the 2020–21 Eredivisie, recording four assists in 13 league games.^[13][14]

On 4 August 2022, Benson joined EFL Championship club Burnley for an undisclosed fee on a four-year deal.^[15] He scored his first goal for Burnley in a 2–1 win against Bristol City on 17 September 2022.^[16] He scored his first FA Cup goals on 7 January 2023, notching a pair in an away game against Bournemouth.^[17]

International career

Benson made his debut for the Angola national team on 7 June 2024 in a World Cup qualifier against Eswatini at the Estádio 11 de Novembro. He substituted Felício Milson in the 69th minute of Angola's 1–0 victory.^[18]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 8 March 2025

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lierse	2013–14[2]	Belgian Pro League	1	0	0	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2014–15[2]	Belgian Pro League	9	0	0	0	—		—		2[c]	0	11	0
	2015–16[2]	Belgian Second Division	21	2	0	0	—		—		—		21	2
	2016–17[2]	Belgian First Division B	37	7	1	1	—		—		—		38	8
	Total		68	9	1	1	—		—		2	0	71	10
Genk	2017–18[2]	Belgian First Division A	8	0	3	0	—		—		—		11	0
	2018–19[2]	Belgian First Division A	0	0	—		—		1[d]	0	—		1	0
	2019–20[2]	Belgian First Division A	3	0	—		—		0	0	1[e]	0	4	0
	Total		11	0	3	0	—		1	0	1	0	16	0
Mouscron (loan)	2018–19[2]	Belgian First Division A	26	4	2	2	—		—		—		28	6
Antwerp	2019–20[2]	Belgian First Division A	11	0	5	1	—		0	0	—		16	1
	2020–21[2]	Belgian First Division A	5	0	0	0	—		3[d]	1	—		8	1
	2021–22[2]	Belgian First Division A	34	5	1	0	—		7[d]	1	—		42	6
	2022–23[2]	Belgian Pro League	1	0	—		—		2[f]	0	—		3	0
	Total		51	5	6	1	—		12	2	—		69	8
PEC Zwolle (loan)	2020–21[2]	Eredivisie	13	0	—		—		—		—		13	0
Burnley	2022–23[2]	Championship	33	11	1	2	3	0	—		—		37	13
	2023–24[19]	Premier League	8	0	0	0	1	0	—		—		9	0
	2024–25[20]	Championship	3	1	2	0	0	0	—		—		5	1
	Total		44	12	3	2	4	0	—		—		51	14
Career total			213	30	15	6	4	0	13	2	3	0	248	38

1. Includes Belgian Cup, FA Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. Appearance(s) in Belgian Pro League relegation play-offs
4. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearance in Belgian Super Cup
6. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 25 March 2025^[21]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Angola
	2024	2	0
	2025	2	0
Total		4	0

Honours

Genk

• Belgian Super Cup: 2019^[22]

Antwerp

• Belgian Cup: 2019–20^[23]

Burnley

• EFL Championship: 2022–23^[24]

Individual

• Belgian Second Division top assist provider: 2016–17 (joint – 7 assists)^[8]