Good morning once again. It is raining over here in Nigeria, how is the weather over there? It is another Saturday of football. We are all football fans and I believe we will keep ourselves busy watching other teams play, while our darling club relaxes from football duties in far away Dubai.
Just yesterday evening, I had a discussion with another passionate Arsenal fan who is my very good friend. Our discussion this time around centered on how good Saka has been this season. Being a player with Nigerian connections, it is only natural that every football fan, who is a Nigerian, talks about him and monitor his progress. While discussing, my friend told me he was scared of Saka burning out and not having an impact at Arsenal, after this season. I asked him ‘why?’ This was his opinion…
“When Iwobi broke into the Arsenal first team with so much talent to display, a lot of Arsenal fans in Nigeria were excited. Many of them, who witnessed Kanu’s exploits in the red shirt of this club, were hoping Iwobi would be another Kanu.
“Iwobi started his Arsenal career with so much promise and he was being touted as the next big thing to come from Nigerian football. He was fast, skillful and knew how to open up defences with his pace. And to add this to the fact that he is related to another Nigerian great footballer, Okocha, meant he was already being loved in Nigeria.
“As time went on, he began to get all the recognition he deserved; he got invited to the national team and from there, it was a one way ticket to stardom for him. In the colours of the Super Eagles, he did well and scored vital goals for the team. However, just as things were starting to get heavenly for him, Iwobi’s influence at Arsenal started dwindling. He started playing inconsistently, and his Arsenal career was starting to take a nose dive.
“Arsenal FC has a strong supporter’s base in Nigeria, and this strong base was partly built by Kanu’s exploits while at Arsenal. Kanu was a hero and it was just coincidental that his best days in the Nigeria national team were when he was at Arsenal. Kanu made a lot of Nigerians love Arsenal; his hat trick against Chelsea in a premiership game was all that was needed for Nigerians to love Kanu in Arsenal.
“So my friend, you can see why I said I am scared for Bukayo? I pray he becomes the next Kanu for Nigerian Arsenal fans, and not another Iwobi, who though is playing for well for the national team, didn’t really win the hearts of Arsenal fans in Nigeria.”
Well, my friend is surely entitled to his own opinion, but I feel Iwobi also made an impact while at Arsenal. Or what do you all think? We are Arsenal and we are proud.
Sylvester Kwentua