Alex Iwobi

Arsenal

Iwobi joined Arsenal while still at primary school, in 2004, and was nearly released by the club at the age of 14 and again at the age of 16. He was first involved in a first-team match as an unused substitute in a League Cup match against West Bromwich Albion on 25 September 2013. He signed a long-term contract with Arsenal in October 2015. On 27 October 2015, Iwobi made his first-team debut for the club, starting in a 3–0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday in the Round of 16 of the League Cup. He made his Premier League debut four days later in a 3–0 win against Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium, as a stoppage time substitute for Mesut Özil. Iwobi made his Champions League debut as an 85th-minute substitute in a 5–1 defeat against Bayern Munich. Iwobi started in the first team for the 2015–16 FA Cup 3rd and 4th round home wins against Sunderland and Burnley respectively. After getting a first Champions League start in a 3–1 away defeat to Barcelona, Iwobi went on to score two goals in his first two Premier League starts in wins against Everton, and Watford, respectively. In the following season, Iwobi changed his squad number from 45 to 17, after Alexis Sánchez took number 7 from the departing Tomáš Rosický. He went on to feature throughout Arsenal's victorious FA Cup campaign of 2016–17, winning 2–1 against Chelsea in the final. He achieved further success with Arsenal in the 2017 Community Shield, in which Arsenal beat Chelsea on penalties. In January 2018,…

Eligible to represent England or his birth country Nigeria, Iwobi started as a youth international for England, with whom he won the 2011 Victory Shield. Iwobi earned 11 caps for England at underage level, but went on to declare for Nigeria in 2015. He made his senior debut for the Super Eagles on 8 October 2015 replacing Ahmed Musa in the 57th minute of a 2–0 friendly defeat to DR Congo in Visé, Belgium, before he had made a competitive appearance for his club. He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics. He was not a part of the 18-man final squad. In August 2017 Iwobi pulled out of Nigeria's squad for that month's World Cup qualifiers due to injury. In October 2017, Iwobi scored for Nigeria in a 1–0 win over Zambia to secure the Super Eagles a spot in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He was named in Nigeria's 23-man squad for the competition and featured in all three games as the Super Eagles were knocked out in the group stage. He was included in Nigeria's squad for the 2019 AFCON tournament. At the tournament in Egypt, Iwobi played in six of Nigeria's seven matches and scored one goal—a decisive 77th-minute winner in the round of 16 against defending champions Cameroon (3–2)—as the Super Eagles claimed bronze, their best finish since 2013. After the tournament he said he was looking forward to returning to club football with Arsenal. Iwobi was named in the Nigeria squad for the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in 2022.…

Iwobi was born in Lagos before moving to England at the age of four, following a brief stay in Turkey, and grew up in Newham, London. His maternal uncle is former professional footballer Jay-Jay Okocha. His father, Chuba Iwobi, was also a footballer.

In December 2024, Iwobi opened a temporary shop in east London which gave out free food for local residents for Christmas.