Alex Iwobi

Alex Iwobi

Iwobi playing for Arsenal in 2016
Personal information
Full name Alexander Chuka Iwobi[1]
Date of birth (1996-05-03) 3 May 1996
Place of birth Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Playing position Winger, Forward
Club information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 17
Youth career
2004–2015 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015– Arsenal 39 (5)
National team‡
2011–2012 England U16 7 (1)
2013 England U17 3 (0)
2013 England U18 1 (0)
2015– Nigeria 10 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:26, 6 August 2017 (UTC).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 08:45, 24 June 2017 (UTC)

Alexander Chuka "Alex" Iwobi (born 3 May 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a winger and a striker 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.[3][4] He is the nephew of ex-professional footballer Jay-Jay Okocha.[4]

Club career

Iwobi joined Arsenal while still at primary school,[5][6] and 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.[7] He signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal in October 2015.[5]

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.[8][9] 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.[10] Iwobi made his Champions League debut as an 85th-minute substitute in a 5–1 defeat against Bayern Munich.[11] Iwobi started in the first team for the 2015–16 FA Cup 3rd and 4th round home wins against Sunderland and Burnley respectively.[12][13]

After getting a first Champions League start in a 3–1 away defeat to Barcelona,[14] Iwobi went on to score two goals in his first two Premier League starts in wins against Everton,[15] and Watford, respectively.[16]

Iwobi changed squad number from 45 to 17, upon hearing that Alexis Sánchez will take up the newly vacated number 7 from the departing Tomáš Rosický.[17]

International career

After playing youth football for England,[18][19] Iwobi elected to play for Nigeria and made his senior debut on 8 October 2015, replacing Ahmed Musa in the 57th minute of a 2–0 friendly defeat to DR Congo in Visé, Belgium.[20]

He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[21]

Career statistics

Iwobi (right) playing for Arsenal U21s in 2015

Club

As of match played 6 August 2017
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Arsenal 2015–16[22] Premier League 13250102[lower-alpha 1]000212
2016–17[23] Premier League 26330207[lower-alpha 1]1—384
2017–18[24] Premier League 000000001010
Career total 39580309110606
  1. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of 24 June 2017[25]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Nigeria 201520
201661
201720
Total101

International goals

Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first.[25]
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

Honours

Arsenal
Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Player details". Confederation of African Football. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Taylor, Daniel (26 March 2016). "How Arsenal's Alex Iwobi became England’s loss and Nigeria’s gain". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Profile". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Alex Iwobi signs new contract". Arsenal F.C. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Arsenal tie down young Nigerian forward Alex Iwobi to a new long term contract: but who is he?".
  7. ↑ "Results/matches: 2013/14". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "Arsene Wenger 'used too many senior players' in League Cup exit". BBC Sport. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Luke Reddy (27 October 2015). "Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  10. ↑ Dafydd Pritchard (31 October 2015). "Swansea City 0-3 Arsenal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Bayern Munich 5-1 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 4 November 2015.
  12. ↑ 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.
  13. ↑ Hytner, David (31 January 2016). "Arsène Wenger makes England quip over Arsenal’s in-form Alex Iwobi". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Champions League: Barcelona 3-1 Arsenal (agg 5-1)". BBC. 16 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "Everton 0-2 Arsenal". BBC Sport. 19 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "Arsenal 4-0 Watford". BBC Sport. 2 April 2016.
  17. ↑ "Granit Xhaka to wear Arsenal No. 16 shirt, Alex Iwobi takes over No. 17". ESPN FC. 27 May 2016.
  18. ↑ "Profile". The Football Association. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "How Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi became England’s loss and Nigeria’s gain". 26 March 2016 – via The Guardian.
  20. ↑ Oluwashina Okeleji (10 October 2015). "Arsenal's Alex Iwobi encouraged by Nigeria opportunity". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Oluwashina Okeleji (24 June 2016). "Kelechi Iheanacho included in Nigeria's Olympics squad". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
  22. ↑ "Games played by Alex Iwobi in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  23. ↑ "Games played by Alex Iwobi in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  24. ↑ "Games played by Alex Iwobi in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  25. 1 2 "Alex Iwobi". National Football Teams. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  26. ↑ Dede, Steve (28 May 2017). "Arsenal star is an FA Cup winner". pulse.ng. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  27. ↑ AfricaNews (2017-01-07). "[LIVE] Algerian Riyad Mahrez is 2016 African Player of the Year". Africanews. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  28. ↑ "CAF – CAF Awards – Previous Editions – 2016". CAFOnline. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
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