All Nigerian football fans will know that Alex Iwobi is a quality player. But it seems like the Premier League is only just waking up to the true potential of this 23-year old from Lagos.
Iwobi shone in Everton’s recent 2-0 home win over West Ham, and it could be that he is the player to rescue the Merseyside club from their struggles at the bottom of the Premier League. The match against West Ham was hugely important for Everton.
The team had suffered a nasty string of defeats and there were many calls made for head coach Marco Silva to get the axe after
their recent bad-tempered 1-0 away defeat to Burnley.
This game thrust Everton in the relegation zone of the Premier League table, and it was a sorry state affair for a club who had spent huge amounts of money in the summer transfer period.
Alex Iwobi was one of the star signings that Everton made. The young midfielder signed a five-year contract for Everton after the club negotiated a £34 million fee from Arsenal. Although Iwobi had briefly shone at the Gunners, it was clear that he was up for a new challenge and a starting place in the Merseyside team.
Although Iwobi has shown moments of brilliance with Everton so far, his performances have largely
been overshadowed by a lack of resolve amongst his teammates. With four straight defeats include a very sorry 0-2 home loss against Premier League newcomers Sheffield United, it was no surprise that storm clouds were forming at Goodison Park.
The sight of Everton in the relegation zone was hugely surprising seeing as many people had Everton tipped to finally break up the ‘big six’ in their 2019/20 Premier League campaign. But with many of the best UK betting sites at openodds.com lengthening their odds for Everton to be playing European football next season, it was clear that the head coach Marco Silva would have to shift things around in his troubled team.
In particular, it was Alex Iwobi who was hoped to be the catalyst for the Everton team who were desperate to pick up some all-important points against West Ham on Saturday.
Thankfully Iwobi more than rose to the challenge and he surprised some people by starting in his favoured number
10 role, rather than on the left-wing where had recently been playing.
It only took 32 minutes for Iwobi to craft beautiful ball to Richarlison and the Nigerian international quickly showed that he looked much more comfortable in the centre of the pitch. The fact that Iwobi finally earned the number 10 position will have delighted many fans although it will have caused consternation for other Everton forwards who will have been jostling for that role.
In particular, Moise Kean was another big summer signing for Everton. The youngster was greeted with plenty of fanfare when he arrived from Juventus, but the 19-year old has yet to make a big impression for the Merseyside club.
His fortunes are in direct contrast to Iwobi who has consistently looked full of creativity and dynamism.
Iwobi’s strong performance against West Ham will certainly strengthen his cause for a permanent starting role at number 10. But whether he can save Everton’s fortunes this season remains to be seen.