Former Gunner in shock at the sale of Arsenal player

It was always going to happen that a former Arsenal player would come out and criticise the selling of Alex Iwobi proving that there is absolutely nothing the club can do to please everyone.

You would have thought that selling Iwobi for the rumoured £40 Million would have been universally welcomed, it really was a stunning piece of business but nope, it turns out it is not universally welcomed.

Former Arsenal striker and Nigerian international Nwankwo Kanu, has expressed his shock that his former club sold his fellow countryman.

“I would say they made a mistake, 100 per cent,” Kanu told Goal. “Why they let him go, I don’t know.

“He’s a boy who, in and out, is Arsenal. He always wanted to do his best for the club. He loves the club, but not only that he can play football.

“What he brings week in, week out, the fans need to appreciate that.

“I think he is still young and those are the type of people you want in the team, people who grew up here, who knows everything about the club and wants to die for the club.

“He was one of them, so for us to lose him and to let him go, was a shock. I couldn’t really believe we did it, but that’s football.”

Well, that is passionate but the thing is this, he simply was not consistent enough for Arsenal and when Everton offered up the amount of money they did it became an offer far too good to turn down.

Kanu obviously believes that Iwobi is better than what the club and most of the fans feel he is, but his reaction does appear to be a bit over the top. To say he couldn’t believe it does make him look a little bit detached from the realities of modern-day football and what a player is truly worth, both in monetary terms and to the selling club.

30 Comments

  1. “He’s a boy “
    Last I looked mr Kanu he’s over 18 .
    Best but if business this club as aver done ,robbed Everton silly ,with that transfer fee.
    Finally have a winger in Pepe who can actually go past a player and is exciting to watch ,not having to watch someone trip over his own shoelaces is a relief this season ,but i suppose if he’s a boy he needs someone to tie them up for him still .maybe Kanu was right ?

    1. We need more than 1 quality winger and need wingers of Iwobi’s quality on the bench. Pepe cant play every match. And we haven’t got the best of hime YET. We also need to get a LW next summer. Aubameyang isn’t a winger. Nelson hasn’t really proven himself yet

      1. And Iwobi is far better than Nelson as this season has proven. He can also play from the midfield, more skillful. I’ll rather have him than Nelson. Nelson still needs more time. Some fans are already putting pressure on the lad

  2. Iwobi had his time and chances. Now IMO club is better served giving those opportunities to Saka, Martinelli, and Nelson.

    In several years if they fail to show consistent progress they should be sold to give other young promising players their chance.

    We should be a club fighting for titles, not offering safe spaces and wages to stagnating players.

  3. All i can say is.. fair play to him, whether he carries on scoring, remains to be seen…all i know is it didn’t work with us & i couldn’t wait to see the back of him… what’s the betting he comes back to haunt us now I’ve said that ?

    1. Frankly during Wenger time, I hated to see him start or play. Last season, he improved a little and it was obvious the curve is going up. I would have kept him.

      1. I guess the only thing we can go by is.. Unai and all the coaches saw him train & play daily.. and if they thought he wasn’t good enough, then so be it! Everton paid a lot of money for him though!

  4. When you compare Iwobi to Ozil’s recent performances, Iwobi seemed committed / good, but if you compare him with Gabriel, Gabriel is the better deal.Good for Iwobi, he can develop his skills elsewhere, good for AFC, they got a decent fee, good for Gabriel / Nelson, they get game time this year (cause with Emery we are not competing /winning anything this year, and the board is aware).And good luck to Iwobi, all is not lost, he can develop and play for a big club like Bayern/ Barca, needs to keep calm and stay focused. Gnarby did it, Schnezy did it.

    1. Are you f***ing serious? Bayern or Barcelona? He only went to Everton because they failed to get Zaha from Palace. What on Earth have you seen in Iwobi that makes you believe he will ever be good enough to be bought by a Club as big as those two? He want good enough for Arsenal in a transitional period and to mug off Everton for £40m for a bench warmer at best is a master stroke by Raul.Yell me one game he has been missed this season.

      1. Hi Phil, I mentioned that he has to further develop his skills at Everton, then he stands a chance for a big club move. He can definitely improve as he is just 22 years old.Compare Zaha at 22, and see what Zaha is at 26, top clubs in pursuit of him.I don’t see why Iwobi cannot. Schnez was our discard, now a no.1 at Juve at the moment.Well as an ex gunner we do need to wish him well and that is just what I did, and so do I for all ex gunners who have respected the club.And i did mention that Gabriel at 18 is better than Iwobi at 22! So its great he moved for all parties concerned.

          1. phil, your hatred towards iwobi makes all your comments towards him very biased. the lad has been quite good if you compare him with most of our players.he definitely has potential which make going to bayern or barcelona a possibility.

      2. Hi Phil, what is special about going to Barca or Bayern? Didn’t Song and Vermaelen go to Barca? Coutinho, in spite of his skills, appears to be a misfit at Barca. Does that mean he won’t come good at another club? Wenger didn’t think Gnabry was good enough for Arsenal snd plsyed him sparingly. Eventually, he sent him to West Brom on loan where he proved a failure. But look at him today.

        1. “Wenger didn’t think Gnabry was good enough for Arsenal and played him sparingly.”

          “Serge Gnabry is a great hope for the future, I rate him highly,” Wenger said in September 2012, a year of signing him from Stuttgart for just £80,000. “He is in the category of [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain and [Theo] Walcott — guys who have great power, great pace and good dribbling skills.”

          Your claim is completely untrue. Wenger made Gnabry a first team regular at 18 when the likes of Chuba Akpom who were supposedly ahead of him couldn’t get a chance. Wenger rated Gnabry so highly and was starting him in games but he unfortunately got injured that saw him miss the rest of the season.

          On sending him on loan, there was no way a 19 year old Gnabry returning from a season long injury was going to displace more established players. He was sent on loan to regain fitness and gain more experience in a smaller team where he was expected to get game time (and one that played physically under Pulis). That it didn’t work out wasn’t Wenger’s making.

          Gnabry was obviously tapped up by Bayern and that explained his move to Hamburg which was only a decoy by Bayern. Arsenal wanted to keep him but with a year left on his contract there wasn’t much better they could do than to at least cut the tail of the bull before it disappeared into thin air.

          Gnabry himself did say that Arsenal didn’t want to sell him.
          “That was the main reason for the transfer – I wanted to get more playing time and it worked.​ ARSENAL WANTED TO KEEP ME, BADLY. But I had to look after my development.”

  5. This is what I don’t understand. Take Xhaka, Iwobi or Mustafi and you will find that PROFESSIONALS within the game, mainly, regard them as good and with potential to become better.

    Fans, however, see them as dross, rubbish, mentally frail! Blood suckers and not worthy of the shirt.

    Take Iwobi. ?.Everton FC are not idiots, being only second to us as the longest established team in the top flight of English football and they paid a reported £40,000,000 for this “cowboy”.

    Perhaps we are just fans/supporters who no nothing, but thìnk we do?

    Xhaka…captain of his club and country, loved by both experienced ans successful managers inUE and AW, yet despised by most fans.
    s

    1. To be fair Ken- Xhaka deserved every bit of criticism that came his way after that tackle on Son v the Spuds.Lets not forget it was only a few games after the idiot cost us a top 4 finish with another needless shove v Brighton.Surely you can understand the frustration and anger.He was captain and “ Leader” v Spuds.What type of example was that to give?
      AW played him because got £35m he couldn’t admit he made a mistake could he? Emery obviously prefers him in CM but we still don’t know what his job is do we? Xhaka seems not to.
      Ask yourself this Ken-Would Raul have sanctioned £35m to buy Xhaka? I don’t believe so and nor do too many others I would think.
      As for Iwobi-now that is exactly what Raul is here for.If Everton believe they got a good deal at £40m then who are we to argue? A player who did not show anywhere near enough to be sold for that amount in my opinion. Tierney.Roughly the same age.A full international ( for a third tier football nation as Iwobi to be fair) but with a pedigree and ambition.And he cost £25m. Would you say they were equal ability? I don’t believe do but only time will tell.

    2. Ken I would say people who spend money on ticket prices want better quality on the pitch than Iwobi after couple years now.

      Professionals aren’t spending any money on Iwobi, and he’s not taking anyone’s starting job. Also he may be a really good person, all around great guy, but fans aren’t buying tickets to see decent fellas on the pitch.

  6. I don’t see how the management could refuse £30 mill or so for Iwobi. Yep he was trying his hardest to make the grade but with Pepe arriving and Reiss Nelson in the wings I think it was a financially sensible decision. He was miles behind anything Kanu did. Kanu was a great player but I’m not sure about what he sees in Iwobi. Iwobi is a good player but not a player that we cannot live without.

    1. Phil, zDurand and Sean, I was asking a question about we, as fans, can see something completely different than the professionals…thats all!!!

      See, even after the awful performances under AW, UE makes him his number one pick. WHY

      Iwobi valued at £40,000,000 but unable to break into AW or UEs team and seen as a failure by what seemed a majority of fans on here…and yet one of our own top players disagrees with that completely. WHY?

      As fans, are we missing something that Everton, UE, AW and Kanu aren’t? Durand, don’t understand your comment about professionals not spending money on Iwobi – £40 million and a rumoured £100,000 a week seems quite a spend to me!

  7. Spot on Kanu. I don’t care how many refuse to see the real value in Iwobi. Someone said here that Everton were “robbed silly’ silly. Imagine.

    Some never see any good in other people’s assessment and that’s okay. Always shouting themselves hoarse to get rid of ‘deadwood’ from the club. I wonder how many who were saying that about Serge Gnabry are turning around to throw mud at Arsene Wenger for selling him.

    I think Iwobi deserves a place in the Arsenal team of today. If those at the helm of affairs don’t share that opinion, then so be it. We move on. End of story.

    There is life outside of Arsenal and that is a fact. If you want Arsenal and Arsenal doesn’t want you, or they think there is someone better than you out there, take it in good faith and move on.

    I just hope it won’t come back to bite us in the arse one day. The Nigerian national team cannot complain. The boy will get game time and improve and that can only be good for him and those who are lucky and have the good sense to acquire his services at this time.

  8. I wonder on the decisions some of our coaches make sometimes. Arsenal need a backup like Iwobi for our current Wingers. Iwobi has improved towards the tale end of last season and we could have enjoyed his football better this season. He holds the ball well after Ozil and Cebalos. But all good for Everyone.Just watch out for the boy. This was how I was skeptical when we sold Serge Gnabry bcos we felt he wasn’t developing well. Now he is better off than some of our inconsistent players.I hope the boy doesn’t become our Nemesis when we play Everyone. We don’t appreciate some of our players until we lose them.

  9. Arsenal need a backup like Iwobi for our current Wingers. Iwobi has improved towards the tale end of last season and we could have enjoyed his football better this season. He holds the ball well after Ozil and Cebalos. But all good for Everton.Just watch out for the boy. This was how I was skeptical when we sold Serge Gnabry bcos we felt he wasn’t developing well. Now he is better off than some of our inconsistent players.I hope the boy doesn’t become our Nemesis when we play Everton. We don’t appreciate some of our players until we lose them.

        1. Ramsey ?
          A player who was with us for 10 years and spent half of it on the treatment table and the other half pretending he was a centre forward .
          Szecesny ?
          Leno ! Miles ahead of him at his age .

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