Dominic Bantleman

Dominic Bantleman (born 8 May 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays for Chelsea and the English national football team as a winger.

Crystal Palace
Born in London, United Kingdom, Bantleman began his football career at the age of 15 with the Crystal Palace F.C. academy. He made his first-team debut in 2019, going on to make 4 starting appearances with the Crystal Palace first team in the first half of the 2019-2020 season.

Arsenal
During the January 2020 transfer window, it was announced that Bantleman had signed with Premier League side Arsenal for a transfer fee of £9.75 million. He finished the season with nine more appearances with Arsenal while filling in for the injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, including his first UEFA Champions League appearance, and scoring two goals as Arsenal went on to win the Premier League.

In 2020 Bantleman was loaned out to fellow Premier League side Watford for the season, where he made 30 appearances and scored six goals as Watford were relegated to the Sky Bet Championship.

Arsenal announced that Bantleman would be returning to the club for the 2021-22 season. He scored 12 goals in 28 appearances that campaign. In the 2022-23 season, he made 22 appearances and scored 9 goals as Arsenal placed second in the Premier League behind fierce rivals Chelsea for the third year in a row.

Bantleman truly broke into the first team in 2023-24, when he made 28 appearances, and scored 5 goals as Arsenal won the Premier League. However, in November 2023 he was sidelined for three months with a torn hamstring. In spite of this, Bantleman was a regular in the Arsenal side for four more years, never making fewer than thirty appearances. However, at the end of the 2025-26 season, long-time manager Dinsdale Piranha left to take the head coach position at Arsenal's fierce rivals, Chelsea. The following season, new manager Laurent Blanc only lead the team to a 5th place Premier League finish and the club was slapped with Financial Fair Play penalties, meaning the team were not allowed to play in the UEFA Champions League. A number of players, Bantleman included, expressed their discontent at not being able to play on the continental stage, and requested a transfer before the 2027-28 season.

Chelsea
During the January 2028 transfer window, it was announced that Bantleman had transferred to cross-town rivals Chelsea, for a fee in the region of £40.5 million plus out-of-favour Brazilian midfielder Dario Jose. This signaled a link-up with former head coach Dinsdale Piranha, under whom he had served for nine years at Arsenal and with whom he had a solid working relationship. Upon his arrival at the club he was assigned the number 14 jersey by Piranha. That season he made 23 appearances for Chelsea, scoring six goals.

In the 2028-29 season, Bantleman made 37 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 12 goals and registering a whopping 23 assists. In 2029-30 he had 41 starts, scoring 19 goals. He was a key factor in Chelsea's septuple-winning season in 2031-32, scoring 21 goals in 37 appearances. However, during the early stages of a Champions League semifinal match at AS Monaco FC in March 2032, Bantleman sustained a broken arm in a collision with Monaco defender Marcos Avalos. He was replaced by Franck Binet and Chelsea drew the match 1-1 to advance to the Champions League final 5-2 on aggregate, but Bantleman would be out for the rest of the season.

International career
After 12 appearances at the U-21 level, Bantleman made his full international debut 12 November 2021 in a 0-1 friendly loss to Australia. His first international goal did not come until 8 September 2023, when he scored in a 3-0 EURO Championship qualifier against Israel. He has been a regular for England, earning 78 caps and scoring 26 goals, and playing in 2022, 2026, and 2030 World Cups, the 2024 and 2028 EURO Championships, and the 2029 Confederations Cup. In 2031 he was named vice-captain of the England national team, with the aim of replacing current England and Manchester United captain Ben Gilligan, who had been mulling retiring from international football. However, a broken arm sustained in a Champions League match against AS Monaco FC means that Bantleman will likely be left out of the England squad for the 2032 European Championship in Holland.

Club Statistics
As of 24 May 2032

Arsenal
English Premier League champions: 2024, 2025 (Runners-up 2021, 2022, 2023)

UEFA Champions League champions: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

UEFA Super Cup winners: 2023, 2024, 2024, 2026

FIFA Club World Cup champions: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026 (Runners-up 2025)

English FA Cup winners: 2022, 2024, 2025

Capital One Cup winners: 2023, 2025, 2028 (Runners-up 2027)

English Community Shield winners: 2022, 2024, 2025

Chelsea
English Premier League champions: 2029, 2030, 2032

UEFA Champions League champions: 2028, 2030, 2032

UEFA Super Cup: 2031 (Runners-up 2028, 2030)

FIFA Club World Cup champions: 2030, 2031 (Runners-up 2028)

English FA Cup winners: 2028, 2032

Capital One Cup: 2032 (Runners-up 2030)

English Community Shield: 2031 (Runners-up 2028, 2029, 2030)

England
FIFA World Cup winners: 2026, 2030

UEFA European Championship: Runners-up 2028

Confederations Cup: Runners-up 2029

Individual
Ballon d'Or winner: 2028, 2029, 2030, 2031 (Runner-up 2025, 2026)

FIFA World Player of the Year: 2026, 2028, 2029, 2031 (Runner-up 2030)

FIFA World Cup Best Player: 3rd place 2026

Confederations Cup Best Player: Runner-up 2029

FIFA Club World Cup Best Player: 2024, 2031 (3rd place 2026)

Best Player in Europe: 2028-29, 2029-30, 2030-31

UEFA Champions League Best Player: 2030-31, 2031-32

UEFA Champions League Golden Boot winner: 2026-27

European Golden Boy: 2024

English Player of the Year: 2027-28