By Adeboye Amosu:
Arsenal have paid a glowing tribute to their Nigerian winger, Alex Iwobi celebrating the occasion of his senior debut appearance for the Gunners, Completesportsnigeria.com reports.
Iwobi, 22, joined the Gunners while still at primary school and was first involved in a first-team match as an unused substitute in a League Cup match against West Bromwich Albion on September 25, 2013.
He however made his first-team debut for the club, starting in a 3–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in a League Cup Round of 16 tie on 0ctober 27, 2015.
Iwobi’s first Premier League outing came four days later in a 3-0 win against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium. He came on as a late substitute for Mesut Ozil in the encounter.
The talented winger has made 71 Premier League appearances for the Gunners despite the presence of well established stars in the team, scoring nine goals.
“#OnThisDay in 2015: @alexiwobi makes his senior debut. Nowadays he’s #BIG17, but back then he was #BIG45 ?,”reads a tweet on Arsenal’s official Twitter handle on Saturday.
Iwobi, who is nephew to Nigeria legend, Austine Jay Jay Okocha signed a new long term contract with Arsenal in August which will keep him at the club until 2023.
He won the FA Cup title with Arsenal in the 2016/2017 season, his first major title at the club and two Community Shield crowns in 2015 and 2017.
This season, Iwobi has made six Premier League appearances for the North London club with one goal to his name.
He was voted man-of-the-match in Arsenal’s last Sunday’s Premier League clash against Leicester City which they won 3-1.