The decision of Alex Iwobi to switch allegiance to the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of England where he was a junior international played a big role in the decision of Arsenal to hand him fresh terms two years ago.
Iwobi was in the list of youth team players to be released by the team as he was already 19 year old and wasn’t at that time one of the top prospects in the youth set up of the Gunners, the team he joined at a very young age.
However all of that changed when he played for Nigeria in one of their friendly games under coach Sunday Oliseh, precisely the game against Congo Dr. two years ago where he made his debut coming on as a substitute for Ahmed Musa in the game which Nigeria suffered a 0-2 loss.
His debut made Arsenal to delay their decision till the end of the season, and before then a combination of injuries and suspension to some first team players opened the door for him to stake a claim in the first team.
He grabbed his chance with both hands and the club had no choice but to hand him fresh terms with his previous deal set to run out in 18 months time. However he could have been cut loose by the team if not for the senior national team debut he made for Nigeria.
Osas Mahawi
