Kundai Leroy Jeremiah Benyu (born 12 December 1997) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who last played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for ÍBV. Born in England, he represents Zimbabwe at international level.

Early life

Benyu was born to Zimbabwean parents on 12 December 1997 in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He grew up in

Harlow Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Club career

Ipswich Town

Benyu joined

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

at the age of nine, signing his first professional contract after turning 17.

Aldershot Town (loan)

On 7 December 2016, Benyu joined Aldershot Town on a one-month loan deal. The loan was subsequently extended several times, allowing Benyu to finish the 2016–17 season with the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side.

Celtic

On 29 June 2017, it was announced that Benyu had signed a four-year contract with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. The midfielder scored on his first appearance for the club's development squad, in a pre-season friendly against

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

. Benyu made his competitive debut in Celtic's 4–0 victory over Linfield at Celtic Park.

Oldham Athletic (loan)

On 6 January 2018, Benyu joined Oldham Athletic on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season. He made his league debut for the club on 13 January 2018 in a 1–1 home draw with Rotherham United. He was subbed off in the 74th minute, and replaced by Aaron Amadi-Holloway.

Helsingborgs (loan)

Benyu joined Swedish club Helsingborg on a season-long loan in February 2019.

Wealdstone

Benyu signed for Wealdstone on 2 October 2020. On 19 February 2021, Benyu departed by mutual consent after making twelve league appearances for the club.

Iceland

In February 2021, he has moved to Icelandic

1. deild 1. deild is the second tier league of football in the Faroe Islands. It was founded in 1943. The league is organised by the Faroe Islands Football Association. It was originally the top level of Faroe Islands football but was replaced by the Faro ...

side Vestri. In May 2022, he moved up a division to join Besta-deild karla side ÍBV.

International career

Benyu's impressive performances for Aldershot Town earned him international recognition, receiving a call-up from

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

for their

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

qualifier against

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. He made his full international

debut in a 1–0 defeat to

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

Maseru Maseru is the capital and largest city of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, Maseru lies directly on the Lesotho–South Africa border. Maseru had a population of 330,760 in the 2016 census. The ...

on 8 November 2017.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Benyu, Kundai 1997 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Camden People from Camden Town English people of Zimbabwean descent Naturalised citizens of Zimbabwe English men's footballers Zimbabwean men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Zimbabwe men's international footballers 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Allsvenskan players 1. deild karla players Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players Ipswich Town F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Helsingborgs IF players Wealdstone F.C. players Vestri men's football players Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja players English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland