Alex Iwobi

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Alex Iwobi
Alex Iwobi 2019.jpg
Iwobi playing for Arsenal in the Europa League Final in 2019
Personal information
Full name Alexander Chuka Iwobi[1]
Date of birth (1996-05-03) 3 May 1996 (age 25)
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Everton
Number 17
Youth career
2004–2015 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2019 Arsenal 100 (11)
2019– Everton 72 (4)
National team‡
2011–2012 England U16 7 (1)
2013 England U17 3 (0)
2013 England U18 1 (0)
2015– Nigeria 55 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:01, 17 March 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:30, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

Alexander Chuka Iwobi (/ɪˈwoʊbi/ ih-WOH-bee;[3] born 3 May 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Everton and the Nigeria national team.

Iwobi began his career at Arsenal, making 149 appearances and scoring 15 goals, and winning the FA Cup in 2017. In August 2019, he transferred to Everton for an initial £28 million fee.

Iwobi represented England up to under-18 level. He made his senior international debut for Nigeria in October 2015, and was part of their squads at the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019 and 2021, finishing third at the 2019 tournament.

Early and personal life[]

Iwobi was born in Lagos before moving to England at the age of four, following a brief stay in Turkey,[4][5][6] and grew up in Newham, London.[7] His maternal uncle is former professional footballer Jay-Jay Okocha.[5][8]

Club career[]

Arsenal[]

Iwobi (right) playing for Arsenal U21s in 2015
Iwobi with Arsenal, 2016

Iwobi joined Arsenal while still at primary school,[9][10] in 2004,[11] and was nearly released by the club at the age of 14 and again at the age of 16.[7]

He was first involved in a first-team match as an unused substitute in a League Cup match against West Bromwich Albion on 25 September 2013.[12] He signed a long-term contract with Arsenal in October 2015.[9][13]

On 27 October 2015, Iwobi made his first-team debut for the club, starting in a 3–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in the Round of 16 of the League Cup.[14][15] He made his Premier League debut four days later in a 3–0 win against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, as a stoppage time substitute for Mesut Özil.[16] Iwobi made his Champions League debut as an 85th-minute substitute in a 5–1 defeat against Bayern Munich.[17] Iwobi started in the first team for the 2015–16 FA Cup 3rd and 4th round home wins against Sunderland and Burnley respectively.[18][19]

After getting a first Champions League start in a 3–1 away defeat to Barcelona,[20] Iwobi went on to score two goals in his first two Premier League starts in wins against Everton,[21] and Watford, respectively.[22]

In the following season, Iwobi changed his squad number from 45 to 17, after Alexis Sánchez took number 7 from the departing Tomáš Rosický.[23] He went on to feature throughout Arsenal's victorious FA Cup campaign of 2016–17, winning 2–1 against Chelsea in the final.[24] He achieved further success with Arsenal in the 2017 Community Shield, in which Arsenal beat Chelsea on penalties.[25]

In January 2018, a video was released that allegedly showed Iwobi at a late-night party 36 hours before a match.[26] In May 2018, after Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger announced he would be leaving the club, Iwobi described him as an "inspiration" and stated it was sad but exciting.[27]

In August 2018, he signed a new long-term contract with the club, reportedly until 2023.[28]

In January 2019, Iwobi was the subject of alleged racism from Indian actress Esha Gupta, an Arsenal ambassador.[29] In July 2019, after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, he said he was looking forward to returning to club football with Arsenal.[30]

Everton[]

On 8 August 2019, Iwobi signed a five-year contract with Everton.[31] According to the BBC, Arsenal received a fee of an initial £28 million, rising to £34 million with potential add-ons.[32]

Fifteen days after signing, Iwobi made his debut as a substitute for the final half-hour in place of Gylfi Sigurðsson in a 2–0 loss at Aston Villa.[33] On 28 August in the second round of the EFL Cup, he scored his first Everton goal in a 4–2 win at Lincoln City.[34] He scored his first league goal on 1 September in a 3–2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, and was one of two players singled out for praise by manager Marco Silva afterwards.[35]

International career[]

Iwobi with Nigeria in 2017

Eligible to represent England or his birth country Nigeria, Iwobi started as a youth international for England, with whom he won the 2011 Victory Shield.[36][37][38] Iwobi earned 11 caps for England at underage level, but went on to declare for Nigeria in 2015. He made his senior debut for the Super Eagles on 8 October, replacing Ahmed Musa in the 57th minute of a 2–0 friendly defeat to DR Congo in Visé, Belgium.[39]

He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[40] He was not a part of the 18-man final squad.[41]

In August 2017 Iwobi pulled out of Nigeria's squad for that month's World Cup qualifiers due to injury.[42] In October 2017, Iwobi scored for Nigeria in a 1–0 win over Zambia to secure the Super Eagles a spot in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[43] He was named in Nigeria's 23-man squad for the competition and featured in all three games as the Super Eagles were knocked out in the group stage.[44][45]

In April 2019, he said he wanted to emulate his uncle Jay-Jay Okocha by winning the Africa Cup of Nations.[8] He was included in Nigeria's squad for the 2019 tournament.[46][47] At the tournament he said he would ignore the labelling of Nigeria as favourites.[48] After the tournament he said he was looking forward to returning to club football with Arsenal.[30]

Iwobi was named in the Nigeria squad for the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in 2022.[49] He was give a red card five minutes after coming on as a substitute in the knockout stage match against Tunisia, a match Nigeria lost 0-1.[50]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of match played 17 March 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Arsenal 2015–16[51] Premier League 13 2 5 0 1 0 2[a] 0 0 0 21 2
2016–17[52] Premier League 26 3 3 0 2 0 7[a] 1 — 38 4
2017–18[53] Premier League 26 3 1 0 5 0 6[b] 0 1[c] 0 39 3
2018–19[54] Premier League 35 3 2 1 3 0 11[b] 2 0 0 51 6
Total 100 11 11 1 11 0 26 3 1 0 149 15
Everton 2019–20[55] Premier League 25 1 0 0 4 1 — — 29 2
2020–21[56] Premier League 30 1 3 0 3 1 — — 36 2
2021–22[57] Premier League 17 2 1 0 2 1 — — 20 3
Total 72 4 4 0 9 3 0 0 0 0 85 7
Career total 172 15 15 1 20 3 26 3 1 0 234 22
  1. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  2. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearance in FA Community Shield

International[]

As of match played 23 January 2022[58]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Nigeria 2015 2 0
2016 6 1
2017 6 3
2018 12 1
2019 15 2
2020 4 2
2021 6 0
2022 4 0
Total 55 9
As of match played 23 January 2022. Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.[58]
List of international goals scored by Alex Iwobi
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 9 October 2016 Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia  Zambia 1–0 2–1 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 7 October 2017 Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, Nigeria 1–0 1–0 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 14 November 2017 Krasnodar Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia  Argentina 2–2 4–2 Friendly
4 4–2
5 2 June 2018 Wembley Stadium, London, England  England 1–2 1–2 Friendly
6 6 July 2019 Alexandria Stadium, Alexandria, Egypt  Cameroon 3–2 3–2 2019 Africa Cup of Nations
7 17 November 2019 Setsoto Stadium, Maseru, Lesotho  Lesotho 1–1 4–2 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
8 13 November 2020 Ogbe Stadium, Benin City, Nigeria  Sierra Leone 1–0 4–4 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
9 3–0

Honours[]

Arsenal

England U16

Nigeria

Individual

References[]

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  2. ^ "Alex Iwobi: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  3. ^ Arsenal (22 May 2014), Arsenal: Introducing Alex Iwobi, archived from the original on 17 November 2021, retrieved 17 November 2017
  4. ^ Taylor, Daniel (26 March 2016). "How Arsenal's Alex Iwobi became England's loss and Nigeria's gain". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Profile". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  6. ^ Lawrence, Amy (9 December 2016). "Alex Iwobi: 'I did extra training. My mum made me do kick-ups in the living room'". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b "How Alex Iwobi avoided an Emirates exit to become Arsenal's breakout star". The Independent. 14 October 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Arsenal's Alex Iwobi hoping to emulate uncle Jay-Jay Okocha's success". BBC Sport. 19 April 2019.
  9. ^ a b "Alex Iwobi signs new contract". Arsenal F.C. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Arsenal tie down young Nigerian forward Alex Iwobi to a new long term contract: but who is he?". The Daily Telegraph.
  11. ^ "Alex Iwobi Reveals How Close He Was to Leaving Arsenal After Talks With Premier League Pair". 90min.com. 15 December 2018.
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  13. ^ "Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Arsene Wenger 'used too many senior players' in League Cup exit". BBC Sport. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  15. ^ Luke Reddy (27 October 2015). "Sheffield Wednesday 3–0 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  16. ^ Dafydd Pritchard (31 October 2015). "Swansea City 0–3 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  17. ^ "Bayern Munich 5–1 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 4 November 2015.
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  20. ^ "Champions League: Barcelona 3–1 Arsenal (agg 5–1)". BBC Sport. 16 March 2016.
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  22. ^ "Arsenal 4–0 Watford". BBC Sport. 2 April 2016.
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  29. ^ "Esha Gupta: Has Instagram exposed everyday racism in India?". BBC News. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
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  33. ^ Kirkbride, Phil (24 August 2019). "Everton new-boy Alexi Iwobi explains Marco Silva's tactical instructions ahead of debut". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
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  38. ^ a b "Victory Shield: Scotland U16 2 England U16 4". The Herald. Glasgow.
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  47. ^ "Afcon 2019 players: Alex Iwobi - The Rise Of Series | Goal.com". www.goal.com.
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External links[]

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