Croatian Teen Turns Down Arsenal to Put Studies First

Petra Benkovic, the younger sister of promising Dinamo Zagreb defender Filip, has turned down a move to leading English women’s club Arsenal.

Whilst it is her brother Filip who has been catching the attention of some big European clubs, including Juventus, Inter and Manchester United, Petra has revealed that Arsenal has made an offer for her.

Petra (18), who is a Croatia U19 representative and attacker for Dinamo Zagreb’s women’s club, however, is putting her studies and her Croatian club first.

“An offer arrived from Arsenal, but I do not plan to leave ZNK Dinamo yet. I believe I have a lot more room to improve. I also wish to dedicate myself to my education and enroll at the Philosophy University in Zagreb. I hope there are offers however later in the future,” Benkovic told her club’s website.

ZNK Dinamo Zagreb coach Marija Margareta Damjanovic also commented on the young international’s decision to turn Arsenal down.

“I am extremely happy and we at the club are all proud of Petra for the offer that came from abroad. She has improved a lot in the last year and is a hard worker, but she has decided that her education is number one and she wants to continue developing at ZNK Dinamo which we all support,” said Damjanovic

Petra, who was playing basketball competitively, says her brother got her into football.

“I am a striker, my role is to score goals. I am not sure I could dribble around my brother, maybe, if he didn’t foul me too harshly,” said Petra, whose favourite players include Luka Modric and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

You can read an interview with Petra here.