Alex Iwobi will have shocked some Arsenal fans with his list of top players to have played with, and will not have pleased them by naming a Tottenham Hotspur player as his toughest opponent either.
The winger came through the ranks with the Gunners, joining the club at the age of eight, and went onto make 100 Premier League appearances for our side.
Last summer however, he was offered the chance to join Everton, who are believed to have paid around the £35-40 Million mark for the young Nigerian international, but he has since struggled to nail down a regular first-team role on Merseyside.
Strangely enough, if Iwobi was to start every remaining league match this term, he would only equal the amount of starts he enjoyed in our first-team last season, while having picked up less appearances overall.
Along his Arsenal journey, he got to play with a number of great players, from Alexis Sanchez to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang just to name a couple, but neither of the above make his list of all-time best players to play alongside.
“The first one is Santi Cazorla, he was crazy. When he comes to the pitch and touches the ball, it’s like he’s blessing the ball,” Iwobi stated.
“I always say this one, Glen Kamara, the most underrated footballer. I remember back in the day me and him in midfield for our youth team.
“Number 3, just because I played with him from young so the chemistry whenever we play, Chuba {Akpom}. We never got to express it for Arsenal. Even now I am hoping he gets a call-up for Nigeria because of the chemistry.
“Four is Ozil, he was crazy. Obviously because of his body language people think he’s not working hard but he actually works hard, people judge it wrong.
“They are going to find this a bit weird but I’m going to say Francis Coquelin. I have been lucky to play with world class players.”
It’s amazing how one person’s perspective can vary so much to another’s, although not many would likely argue over the likes of Santi Cazorla or Ozil being named on the list.
If this list hadn’t give you a headache as it is, he also named Tottenham defender Sergio Aurier as the toughest opponent he has faced, albeit from his time with Paris Saint-Germain, but his responses to lead you to question some things.
Did Arsenal fail Kamara and Akpom? Or is Iwobi bitter about the fact that he and his favourite team-mates failed to make it at the club?
Patrick
If true, this list just proves how little use Iwobi was himself. If he truly belives that three of his five were among his best ever teammates, I worry for his sanity. OBVIOUSLY I need not list them, as all sane Gooners know far better than Iwobi how poor two were and how middling another was. Two were big names with good cause. But the others, oh dear!
All I can say is – thank you, Everton 😜