Early Life 

Iwobi was born on the 3rd of May, 1996, in Lagos State, which falls in the southwestern geopolitical zone of Nigeria. He migrated with his family to England when he was four. He grew up in Newham, London. The former popular professional footballer, Jay-Jay Okocha, is the maternal uncle of Alex Iwobi.

Career 

Professional Career

In 2004, while still in elementary school, Iwobi signed with Arsenal. On September 25, 2013, he made his debut for the first team as an unused replacement in a League Cup game against West Bromwich Albion. In October 2015, he committed to a long-term agreement with Arsenal. 

Iwobi made his first-team debut for the team on October 27, 2015, starting in the Round of 16 League Cup loss to Sheffield Wednesday by a score of 3-0. Four days later, in a 3-0 victory over Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, he made his Premier League debut by replacing Mesut Ozil in stoppage time.

In a 5-1 loss to Bayern Munich, Iwobi made his Champions League debut as a substitute. Iwobi started in the home victories over Sunderland and Burnley in the third and fourth rounds, respectively, of the 2015–16 FA Cup. He scored twice in his first two Premier League starts victories against Everton and Watford, after making his Champions League debut in a 3-1 away loss to Barcelona. 

Iwobi continued to play a role in Arsenal’s 2016–17 FA Cup victory, which included a 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the championship game. In the 2017 Community Shield, which saw Arsenal defeat Chelsea on penalties, he always had more success with Arsenal.

Iwobi and Everton agreed to a five-year contract on August 8, 2019. Iwobi made his debut in a 2-0 loss at Aston Villa fifteen days after signing by replacing Gylfi Sigurdsson for the final 30 minutes. In a 4-2 victory over Lincoln City on August 28 in the second round of the EFL Cup, he netted his first Everton goal. On September 1st, in a 3-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, he scored his first league goal.

International Career 

Iwobi first competed for England in youth international matches, winning the Victory Shield in 2011. Iwobi had 11 junior England caps before deciding to sign with Nigeria in 2015. In the 57th minute of a 2-0 friendly loss to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Visé, Belgium, he earned his Super Eagles senior debut, taking Ahmed Musa‘s place. 

He was chosen by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional Olympic team in 2016. He wasn’t a member of the final 18-man squad.

Iwobi withdrew from the Nigerian World Cup qualifying team in August 2017 due to an injury. Iwobi’s goal in Nigeria’s 1-0 victory over Zambia in October 2017 earned the Super Eagles a spot in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He was included in Nigeria’s 23-man squad for the tournament and played in all three of the Super Eagles games as they were eliminated from the group round. 

Iwobi was selected for the Nigeria team to compete in the postponed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in 2022. In the knockout stage match against Tunisia, which Nigeria lost 1-0, he was given a red card five minutes after entering as a substitute.

Honors

Arsenal

• FA Cup: 2016–17
• FA Community Shield: 2015, 2017
• EFL Cup runner-up: 2017–18
• UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2018–19

England U16

• 2011: Victory Shield 

Nigeria

• 2019: Africa Cup of Nations: third place 

Individual

• 2016: CAF Youth Player of the Year 
• 2016: CAF Team of the Year 

Net Worth

According to different sources online, Alex Iwobi has an estimated net worth of $8.5 million. He accumulated his wealth from his football career.

Social Media Handles

Alex Iwobi is one of the Nigerian footballers with the highest number of social media followers. He has verified accounts on both Instagram and Twitter with over 1.2 million followers and 884,400 followers respectively. You can follow him through the following social media handles.

• Instagram: @alexanderiwobi
• Twitter: @alexiwobi

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