AYMAN BENAROUS

Full Name: Ayman Omar Benarous

Born: 27 July 2003

Came from: Bristol City   Went to: Released

First game: 09 August 2025   Last game: 26 December 2025

Appearances: 15 (7/8)   Goals: 0

Bristol-born midfielder Benarous has an Algerian father and an English mother and, in 2020, won two caps for England at youth level, having previously represented the under-17s.

A long-term attachment to Ashton Gate started at the age of six, as he went on to become a youth product of Bristol City. He signed his first professional contract with the club in February 2021, making his debut in October that year in a 2-1 Football League Championship win against Barnsley after coming on as a substitute for former Argyle loanee Tyreeq Bakinson in the 67th minute. His debut had been earned after scoring a hat-trick for the under-23s against Watford a few weeks earlier.

In February 2022, after a successful run in the first team, Benarous signed a new three-year contract with Bristol City, keeping him at the club until 2025.

However, having made 12 appearances during his debut season, 2021-22, he would not play again for the Robins after being beset by injuries, including two anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. He was released at the end of the 2024-25 season when his contract expired, despite having regained fitness.

With the mass exodus at Home Park that followed relegation from the Championship at the end of that same season, including Jordan Houghton declining a new contract to join Stevenage and Adam Randell being sold, ironically, to Bristol City with just a year remaining on his contract, Argyle were short in midfield, particularly when also considering returning loanees.

Benarous arrived at Home Park under new Head of Football Operations David Fox and new Head Coach Tom Cleverley and did enough in training and during his trial to earn a one-year contract. He joined the pre-season trip to Austria, from where his signing was announced, becoming the club's ninth summer arrival.

Making a total of seven starts and eight substitute appearances for Cleverley's side and showing glimpses of real promise as the season entered 2026, he then suffered the unfortunate outcome of being de-registered as a player in early February 2026. With Argyle looking to strengthen their defence after injuries, and following the signings of Herbie Kane and Wes Harding, the club would have been over the Football League squad size limit and Benarous was deemed surplus to requirements. The club looked to loan him to a National League club, as he could not join another Football League club.

The situation was then exacerbated by a season-ending injury to Joe Ralls, with Caleb Roberts and Freddie Issaka both having been loaned to Truro City. However, none of those three scenarios helped, despite depleting the squad, as all three remained registered with the club. The situation was finally resolved in mid-February when Kornel Szucs was sold to Serbian side Vojvodina, just outside the January transfer window, as the Serbian window remained open a few days longer. This enabled Benarous to be re-registered and made eligible for selection again.

Benarous's last appearance, however, remained the heavy 4-1, Boxing Day 2025 home defeat to Reading and, despite his re-registration, he was unable to add to his tally. In May 2026, the club announced that he would be released when his contract expired in the summer.