WHEN Benik Afobe netted a 16-minute pre-season hat-trick for Wanderers at Tranmere Rovers back in 2012, it seemed Owen Coyle had finally struck loan gold again.

Business the previous season had been grim. Relegation from the Premier League had been accompanied with its fair share of bad luck on the injury front – yet the honest truth was that recruitment had failed the Whites in two successive transfer windows.

Whereas Coyle began life as Bolton boss by snapping up talent in the form of Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge, a trimmed budget in the summer before his second full season left him working with Dedryck Boyata, Ryo Miyachi and the much-maligned Tuncay Sanli.

Afobe, then a highly-rated youngster at Arsenal, was the attacking gamble Coyle hoped would fire Wanderers back into the Premier League.

“Young Benik is the best finisher at this football club,” enthused the Scot after his exploits at Prenton Park.

“He has got all the tools to go on and have a very good career in this game.

“He is young, so we do have to take care of him, but I think he is the type of player who can have supporters on the edge of their seats in this division, I really do.”

The reality for Wanderers, Coyle and Afobe was something quite different.

Although he got chances as a main striker alongside Kevin Davies at the start of the season Afobe's struggles mirrored those of the team. They had failed to come to terms with the hustle and bustle of Championship football and the youngster had been relegated to the bench long before Coyle’s demise.

Things briefly looked up for Afobe when his successor, Dougie Freedman, came to the club from Crystal Palace.

A young and highly-regarded coach had nurtured the talents of Wilfred Zaha and Yannick Bolasie and his slightly more continental tactical approach seemed more in keeping with the one he had grown up with at Arsenal.

Yet Afobe struggled to play in the wide positions in Freedman's preferred 4-2-3-1, and he started to cut an increasingly disconsolate figure.

In all, the Londoner made just seven starts, five in the league, producing just two goals.

And the fact his season-long loan was ended unceremoniously on deadline day to allow for the signing of Craig Davies rubber-stamped his miserable spell at Bolton.

“It didn’t go as great as I would have liked,” Afobe said a few years later. “I used to play five, 10 minutes here or there and I was playing out of position.

“We were losing most weeks as well and the manager (Owen Coyle) got sacked so it was a bit of a frustrating time for me.

“I was only a teenager at the time, so I had to be mentally strong.

“I learned a lot from it and it showed me football can’t always go your way. I’ve had a few unlucky times with injuries and unlucky loans, but I still see it as a blessing.”

It is to Afobe's credit that his career went on such an upward trajectory after his spell in the North West, but it was still not without hardship.

A loan at Millwall was cut short because of a serious knee injury but Afobe returned after eight months to undertake another loan at Sheffield Wednesday.

A £2m move to Wolverhampton Wanderers followed – and 13 goals in his first season alerted the attention of Bournemouth, who recruited his services for a cool £10m.

He played in three Premier League seasons for the Cherries, scoring 10 goals, but was loaned back to Wolves in January to boost an already-tasty attack.

Afobe scored in last weekend’s win against Birmingham City and figures of £20m have now been mentioned if Wolves want to keep him on their Premier League return.

Worryingly for Wanderers, the front man – still only 25 and now a full international for the DR Congo – is out to put himself in the shop window over the season’s last three games.

“When I came back to the club, I obviously knew that I had a point to prove,” said Afobe, who had dropped out of the reckoning at Bournemouth.

“It’s been two years since I was last here and the team has moved on and got better, with all due respect, so I had to up my game as well. I wasn’t going to rest on my laurels. I think I’ve contributed – I’ve got five goals now, but there are still three games to play – I want more and the team wants more.”