‘I’ve Experienced Worse’ – Alex Iwobi Opens up on Arsenal Exile

‘I’ve Experienced Worse’ – Alex Iwobi Opens up on Arsenal Exile

A victim of Arsenal’s recent slump, Nigerian international Alex Iwobi has insisted that he’s been through “worse” at the Emirates and remains positive of a turnaround.

Iwobi, 20, saw plenty of game time at the start of the 2016-17 campaign as Arsenal looked to be genuine contenders for the title, but has seen his minutes decline over the past months with the Gunners going through their worst spell in years.

The attacking midfielder has hardly touched the ball since April, and was earlier farmed out to the U23 ranks during the disastrous loss to Crystal Palace.

But he continues to remain upbeat, drawing strength from past experiences, such as almost being released in his teens, to put his current situation into perspective, Goal writes.

“My journey so far has been a bumpy ride, so it’s something I look back on and say to myself,” he said.

“If I can overcome things that I believe were worse than what’s going on now, then surely I should be able to overcome this.

“It’s tough, especially for the ones who almost get released, which I unfortunately had to go through. It makes you stronger.

“If you’re good enough and you apply the work that needs to be done and put in maximum effort then you’ll come through.”

Arsenal appear to have turned a corner with victory over Middlesbrough and an FA Cup semi-final win against Manchester City, and Iwobi has called for belief if they’re to reach the desired heights.

“I’m the type of person who likes to keep moving forward,” Alex Iwobi added.

“You have to improve day by day and obviously we’re not doing as well as we believe we should be doing, so when the next challenge comes up we have to try to prove to the fans and prove to everyone at Arsenal what we can do.

“We have some big games coming up, so everyone should be pumped up. We need to prove ourselves in these games.

“We have to prove to everyone that we can play against these top teams.”

Arsenal take on Leicester City on Wednesday as they reignite the battle for a top four finish.