England To Launch Late Bid To Secure Future Of Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi
The English FA are said to be preparing one final swoop to secure the future of young Arsenal striker Alex Iwobi as his full debut for the senior Nigerian side looms closer.
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The Daily Mirror is reporting that the teenage forward has been at the centre of a tug-of-war between both Nigerian and England since he made his breakthrough onto the scene at the beginning of the year.
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Iwobi bagged his first goal for the Gunners at the weekend in a 2-0 victory over Everton, but his Man of the Match performance was the icing on the cake of a run of starting three of the club’s last four games (via Mirror).
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The report points out that the 19-year-old has already featured for various levels of the England youth sides, representing the U-16, U-17 and U-18’s before settling on Nigeria – the country of his birth.
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And now Iwobi – who the Mirror also highlights is the nephew of former Bolton man Jay-Jay Okocha – has already featured twice for the Nigerian national side, though he won’t be formally tied down to the Super Eagles until he plays in a competitive fixture.
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However, Iwobi is in line to make his competitive debut this week, having being called up by Nigeria for the Africa Cup of Nations double header with Egypt, and though he has left the door open for the FA to try and convince him to remain with the Three Lions, they are seeing their opportunity to keep him getting slimmer (via Mirror).