By Taiwo Ibrahim on May 16, 2020

Former Super Eagles midfielder, Emmanuel Okocha, has revealed that he is not surprised by the progress of his nephew, Alex Iwobi.

Iwobi started his career at Arsenal, joining the North London club while in primary school, before going on to represent the senior team.

The 24-year-old made his debut for Arsenal in a league cup match against Sheffield Wednesday in 2015.

He made 149 appearances for the Gunners before leaving to join another premier league club, Everton, in a 34 million pounds deal to become the most expensive Nigerian footballer.

Iwobi has established himself as one of the key members of the club, racking up 18 appearances in the premier league before the league was suspended due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

Emmanuel Okocha, who represented Nigeria at the 1990 African Cup of Nations, is the Elder brother of former Super Eagles captain, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha.

Emmanuel attributed Iwobi’s progress to humility and hard work.

“Alex getting to this point is not a surprise, and I know he’ll do better. He broke into that level where people started asking questions, comparing him to Jay-Jay [Okocha] because of the relationship,”

Okocha told the Super Eagles media team in an Instagram chat.

“But they forget that he’s just another Nigerian like every other guy, playing for Nigeria, playing for Arsenal.

“Playing for Arsenal built him up, people still appreciate that. They were about 24 when they were picked up at seven or eight.

“He played for England youth, captained Arsenal’s U19s and U23s. A lot of people went through that and couldn’t play for the first team.

“He broke into the first team, stayed for a while, and had this big transfer, a massive transfer for me because the move to Everton made him more responsible for himself.

“He moved away from the family to another city, so that’s a bigger challenge, and he’s taking it well.”

Alex Iwobi made his Super Eagles debut in a friendly match against Congo in 2015, when he came off the bench to replace Ahmed Musa.

•PHOTO: Alex Iwobi 

Source Daily Sports

Posted May 16, 2020

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