| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benicio Baker-Boaitey [1] | ||
| Date of birth | 9 January 2004 [2] | ||
| Place of birth | Hammersmith, England [3] | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Millwall | ||
| Number | 26 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2020 | West Ham United | ||
| 2020–2022 | Porto | ||
| 2022 | → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | ||
| 2022–2023 | Brighton & Hove Albion | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2023–2025 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 5 | (0) |
| 2024–2025 | → Port Vale (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2025– | Millwall | 0 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2019 | England U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 2024 | England U20 | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 8 January 2025 | |||
Benicio Baker-Boaitey (born 9 January 2004) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for EFL Championship club Millwall.
Baker-Boaitey, an England youth international, had spells in the youth academies of West Ham United and Porto before turning professional at Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2023. He spent the first half of the 2024–25 season on loan at Port Vale before he joined Millwall on a permanent transfer in January 2025.
Having come through the youth academy of West Ham United, Baker-Boaitey was 16 when he rejected a professional contract with them to join FC Porto in 2020. [4] He also had the opportunity to join Bundesliga sides Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach, though opted for the Primeira Liga side. [5] [6] [7] Porto paid West Ham compensation in the region of £190,000. [8]
Baker-Boaitey signed for the academy of Brighton & Hove Albion on transfer deadline day in January 2022, initially on a six-month loan deal. [9] [10] The move became permanent in June 2022 after he impressed academy coach Andrew Crofts. [11] [12] He played in the Sussex Community Shield final and scored his penalty in the shoot-out victory over Littlehampton Town. [13] He featured ten times for Brighton under-21's in Premier League 2 during the 2022–23 season. He signed a new one-year contract with the club in July. [14] On 12 November 2023, he was named among the match day squad in the Premier League as Brighton played against Sheffield United at Falmer Stadium. [15] Three weeks later on 3 December, Baker-Boaitey made his senior and professional debut with the Albion, coming on as a late substitution in a 3–2 loss to Chelsea. [16] He featured in six games under manager Roberto De Zerbi and agreed a new contract at the end of the 2023–24 season. [17]
On 7 August 2024, Baker-Boaitey completed a season-long loan move to League Two club Port Vale. [18] On 7 September, he started in a 4–1 win at Newport County and was subsequently named in the EFL League Two Team of the Week. [19] However, he was sidelined with a pelvic injury at the start of December. [20] He was recalled to Brighton on 8 January after having made 14 appearances for the Valiants, claiming two assists, with manager Darren Moore remarking that he had been "a real game changer when on his game". [21] [22] When the player was sold later in the window, technical director David Weir called it "a good move for all parties". [23]
On 3 February 2025, Baker-Boaitey signed a "long-term contract" with Championship club Millwall after joining for an undisclosed fee. [24] The club's director of football, Steve Gallen, described him as "an exciting prospect" who would go straight into head coach Alex Neil's first team. [25] However, he did not feature in the remainder of the 2024–25 season. [26]
On 7 June 2024, Baker-Boaitey made his England U20 debut in a 2–1 win over Sweden at Stadion ŠRC Sesvete. [27]
Baker-Boaitey has been described as a left-footed wide player, with comparisons made in his style of play to former Juventus player Douglas Costa. [28] He has pace and can play as a wide or inside winger. [29]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 2023–24 [32] | Premier League | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2024–25 [26] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion U21 | 2022–23 [33] | — | — | — | — | 1 [a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 [32] | — | — | — | — | 3 [a] | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Port Vale (loan) | 2024–25 [26] | League Two | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 [a] | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Millwall | 2024–25 [26] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2025–26 [34] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||