How has this Arsenal youngster shot to first team prominence at the Emirates?

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A season which promised so much for Arsenal; as their nearest rivals for the last few years were slipping up, has drifted into the wilderness again.  A capitulation in the league and exits from the FA Cup and Champions League have left their campaign ebbing to a mediocre halt.  However, with new additions to the team, Arsenal have looked reinvigorated and reignited in the last couple of games, with one Nigerian starlet being key.

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Alex Iwobi has been thrown into the deep end this season.  With injuries and poor form diminishing Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s respective impacts on the side, Iwobi has taken the role alongside Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil with both hands and is lighting up the Emirates with some dazzling showings.  He made a few cameo appearances before his first start for Arsenal in the FA Cup at home to Sunderland.  Iwobi is wiry, quick and strong on the ball, sharing many attributes with Arsenal’s superstar Chilean international.  He shone among his team-mates,  exhibiting that spark which stands out in a special player every time he got the ball.  The up-and-coming star always demands the ball, wanting to run the show and be the creator in chief.

Iwobi was quickly becoming a name on the lips of fans with performances that make supportters want to come back to see him play.  Until he was thrusted into a start at the Nou Camp in their last 16 Champions League second leg tie, Iwobi was a bench player, brought on to make an impact if needed.  However, as form dipped and results against Manchester United, Barcelona, Swansea and Watford sent their season into disarray, Arsene Wenger was willing to give the teenager his chance to flourish.  In the game itself, he was dynamic, tireless and creative, but there was a sign of his rawness as his decision making and final ball was left wanting on occasions.  However, against the best team in the world, he made a statement, one which demanded a league start for the nephew of Jay-Jay Okocha.

Okocha was one of the most gifted players to grace the Premier League.  Making his name at Bolton Wanderers, he was stylish and a real showman, something Iwobi could develop into.  He earned his first Premier League start at Goodison Park and left everyone wanting more after a superb performance.  Arsenal produced a flawless away performance in their 2-0 win at Everton, where Iwobi scored his first goal in the Gunners first team.  The link-up play between Danny Welbeck and Iwobi looked sharp, as it was in Barcelona.  With Ozil and Sanchez alongside, Arsenal looked menacing and meticulous in going about dominating the Toffees.  Iwobi was sent through by Héctor Bellerin and took the ball down wonderfully before nut-megging Joel and flying off to the camera so everyone had a lasting impression of what this latest gem from North London looked like.

It is of course still early days in his Arsenal career and he shouldn’t be rushed into responsibilities beyond his years, but he is obviously talented and needs to be in the first team picture for years to come.  Players like Bellerin, Elneny, Welbeck, Reine-Adelaide and Campbell are all coming through together to shape a very fruitful young team at Arsenal with longer serving players such as Theo Walcott, Per Mertersacker and Olivier Giroud having doubts made about their roles in the squad.  Arsene Wenger has always been one to trust in the youth of tomorrow with the names on the list of nurtured players he’s brought through good enough to win the Premier League – Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas, Thierry Henry and Kolo Toure would all feature here.

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Arsenal have let themselves down this season by seemingly letting the title slip through their hands in games they should have won as they dived into a car crash showing at Old Trafford, followed by a shambolic loss to Swansea at home.  They may end the season well and look to next term to once again hope of ending their drought for the league title, with Iwobi and co. out to prove a point. It also looks like that the team will still be under Arsene Wenger, so he needs to silence the doubting Arsenal fans by signing players that will improve the squad in areas they are so short in.  In Iwobi however, he already has an impact player who will only get better with experience and could become a real star at Arsenal given the opportunities.

It is reported that the Nigerian has agreed an improved contract worth £30,000 a week till 2021, a signal of how well he’s done at the back-end of the season and how impressed the hierarchy are with the winger’s development.  Arsenal have another player who has potential to burn, let’s hope it doesn’t go to waste.

How much of an impact do you think that Alex Iwobi can have on the remainder of Arsenal’s season? Is he the best youngster to come through their ranks in recent times, and can he go on to surpass the level of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

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