Alexander Chuka Iwobi (/ ɪˈwoʊbi/ ih-WOH-bee ; [3] born 3 May 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Arsenal and the Nigeria national team .
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] He is the nephew of former professional footballer Jay-Jay Okocha .[5] He grew up in Newham. [7]
He is "best mates" with former Arsenal teammate Tyrell Robinson .[8]
Club career
Iwobi (right) playing for
Arsenal U21s in 2015
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. This was due to Chilean forward
Alexis Sánchez taking up the newly vacated number 7 from the departing Tomáš Rosický .[23]
Iwobi went on to feature throughout Arsenal's victorious FA Cup campaign of 2016–17 . As so he earned a winners medal as being part of the squad that beat Chelsea by 2 goals to 1 in the final of such .[24] He achieved further success with Arsenal in the 2017 Community Shield, in which Arsenal beat Chelsea on penalties. [25]
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. [26]
In August 2018 he signed a new long-term contract with the club, reportedly until 2023. [27]
International career
Iwobi with Nigeria in 2017
Iwobi started as a youth international for England, with whom he won the Victory Shield of 2011.[28][29][30] Iwobi went on though to play for Nigeria . He made his senior debut for the Super Eagles on 8 October 2015, replacing Ahmed Musa in the 57th minute of a 2–0 friendly defeat to DR Congo in Visé, Belgium.[31]
He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[32] He was not a part of the 18-man final squad. [33]
In August 2017 Iwobi pulled out of Nigeria's squad for that month's World Cup qualifiers due to injury. [34] On 7 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. [35]
He was named in Nigeria's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. [36] He said that the team needed to learn from its performance after going out in the group stages. [37]
Controversy
In January 2018 a video allegedly showing Iwobi at a late-night party 36 hours before a match was released. [38]
In January 2019, Iwobi was the subject of alleged racism from Indian actress Esha Gupta , an Arsenal ambassador. [39]
Career statistics
Club
As of match played 7 March 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Lea
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals App
Arsenal 2015–16[40] Premier League 13 2 5 0 1
2016–17 [41] Premier League 26 3 3 0 2
2017–18 [42] Premier League 26 3 1 0 5
2018–19 [43] Premier League 26 3 2 1 3
Career total 91 11 11 1 11
1. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
2. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. ^ Appearances in FA Community Shield
International
As of 26 June 2018[44]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Nigeria 2015 2 0
2016 6 1
2017 5 3
2018 7 1
Total 21 5
International goals
Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first. [44]
No Date Venue Opponent Score Res
1. 9 October 2016 Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, Ndola, Zambia Zambia 1–0 2–
2. 7 October 2017 Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, Nigeria Zambia 1–0 1–
3. 14 November 2017 Krasnodar Stadium, Krasnodar, Russia Argentina 2–2
4– 4. 4–2
5. 2 June 2018 Wembley Stadium, London, England England 1–2 1–
Honours
Arsenal
FA Cup : 2016–17 [24]
FA Community Shield: 2015 , 2017 [25]
England U16
Victory Shield: 2011[30]
Individual
CAF Youth Player of the Year : 2016 [45]
CAF Team of the Year : 2016 (as a substitute) [46]
References
1. ^ "Player details" . Confederation of African Football. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
2. ^ "Alex Iwobi: Overview" . Premier League. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
3. ^ Arsenal (22 May 2014), Arsenal: Introducing Alex Iwobi , 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. ^ Simon Parker (9 January 2018). "Bradford City: Tyrell Robinson will not ease off after signing new contract" . Telegraph & Argus . Retrieved 10 January 2018.
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.
12. ^ "Results/matches: 2013/14" . Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
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.
18. ^ Critchley, Mark (9 January 2016). "Arsenal vs Sunderland team news: Alex Iwobi handed first-team chance, Petr Cech starts in goal" . The Independent . Retrieved 1 February 2016.
19. ^ Hytner, David (31 January 2016). "Arsène Wenger makes England quip over Arsenal's in-form Alex Iwobi" . The Guardian . Retrieved 1 February 2016.
20. ^ "Champions League: Barcelona 3–1 Arsenal (agg 5–1)" . BBC Sport. 16 March 2016.
21. ^ "Everton 0–2 Arsenal" . BBC Sport. 19 March 2016.
22. ^ "Arsenal 4–0 Watford" . BBC Sport. 2 April 2016.
23. ^ "Granit Xhaka to wear Arsenal No. 16 shirt, Alex Iwobi takes over No. 17" . ESPN FC. 27 May 2016.
24. ^ a b Dede, Steve (28 May 2017). "Arsenal star is an FA Cup winner" . pulse.ng . Retrieved 29 May 2017.
25. ^ a b " 'Let's keep it going' – Iwobi lauds ARSENAL after Community Shield Triumph" . Goal.com .
26. ^ "Nigeria's Alex Iwobi says Wenger exit 'sad' and 'exciting' " . BBC Sport. 3 May 2018.
27. ^ "Alex Iwobi: Arsenal midfielder signs new 'long-term' deal" . BBC Sport. 3 August 2018.
28. ^ "Profile" . The Football Association. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
29. ^ "How Arsenal's Alex Iwobi became England's loss and Nigeria's gain" . The Guardian . 26 March 2016.
30. ^ a b "Victory Shield: Scotland U16 2 England U16 4" . The Herald . Glasgow.
31. ^ Oluwashina Okeleji (10 October 2015). "Arsenal's Alex Iwobi encouraged by Nigeria opportunity" . BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
32. ^ Oluwashina Okeleji (24 June 2016). "Kelechi Iheanacho included in Nigeria's Olympics squad" . BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
33. ^ "Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 - Nigeria" . FIFA.
34. ^ "Iwobi ruled out of Nigeria's World Cup qualifiers against Cameroon" . BBC Sport. 27 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
35. ^ "Iwobi sends Nigeria to Russia 2018" .
36. ^ "World Cup 2018: Arsenal's Iwobi in Nigeria's 23-man squad" . 3 June 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
37. ^ "Alex Iwobi: Nigeria must learn from 2018 World Cup" . 19 July 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
38. ^ "Alex Iwobi: Arsenal forward faces fine over pre-match party claims" . BBC Sport. 5 May 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
39. ^ "Esha Gupta: Has Instagram exposed everyday racism in India?" . BBC News. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
40. ^ "Games played by Alex Iwobi in 2015/2016" .
Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
41. ^ "Games played by Alex Iwobi in 2016/2017" .
Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
42. ^ "Games played by Alex Iwobi in 2017/2018" .
Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
43. ^ "Games played by Alex Iwobi in 2018/2019" .
Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
44. ^ a b "Alex Iwobi" . National Football Teams . Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
45. ^ AfricaNews (7 January 2017). "[LIVE] Algerian Riyad Mahrez is 2016 African Player of the Year" .
Africanews . Retrieved 7 January 2017.
46. ^ "CAF – CAF Awards – Previous Editions – 2016" . CAFOnline. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
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