Scouting Arsenal’s Rising Star Alex Iwobi

This season has been a very disappointing one for Arsenal. The fans are up in arms, with some even planning a protest demonstrating their dissatisfaction with the club’s board as well as manager Arsene Wenger.

However, there is one aspect of Wenger’s management that almost all fans will recognise as a positive thing: his ability to nurture young talent. The latest example of Nigerian Alex Iwobi. In a season full of problems, his emergence has been an undisputed highlight.

Iwobi is not exactly a new face at Arsenal. He joined the club while still at primary school, having moved to England from Nigeria at a young age. Football is in his blood: Iwobi is the nephew of former Premier League star Jay-Jay Okocha. 

Another of Iwobi’s uncles, Emmanuel Okocha, has spoken to the Sun about Iwobi’s football-obsessed childhood:

When he was young he loved imitating the top stars back then like Alan Shearer and his uncle Jay-Jay. Football was his life from that time.

He came back to Nigeria when he was about four years old.

The surface in Nigeria can be rough and he was playing bare feet and he peeled his toes. He got a bandage and still kept on playing even though he was hurt.

He kept on playing everywhere, that’s how much he loved it.

That hunger for the game has helped Iwobi progress through the ranks at Arsenal, until eventually making his first-team debut this season. 

There were signs he would make an impact this year back in preseason. Iwobi was part of the squad for the Emirates Cup tournament, and he announced himself to the Arsenal fans in considerable style, scoring a well-taken goal in a 6-0 win over Lyon.

Wenger obviously saw enough then to convince him to keep Iwobi around. While the likes of Chuba Akpom and Isaac Hayden were sent on loan, Iwobi was retained to train regularly with the first-team squad. That decision appears to have paid dividends—first of all, Iwobi was able to capitalise on Arsenal’s annual injury crisis to force his way into Wenger’s plans.

However, more than that, he has steeped himself in Arsenal’s style. By the time his opportunity came around, he was already familiar with the first-team’s pattern of play. That’s partly a credit to his education at the Arsenal academy, which moulds players specifically to suit Wenger’s …

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