Nigerian International, Alex Iwobi has completed an extremely impressive revamp of his Everton career.
Former EFC manager, Marco Silva brought Iwobi to the club in the summer window prior to the start of the 2019/20 Premier League season, being the last of the eight signings made by Silva and Brands. The feeling around the club after the transfer window closed was that this would be a new beginning for the club, however, this is far from the case.
Players brought in that window included Fabian Delph from Manchester City, Jean-Phillipe Gbamin from Mainz and the most exciting of all during the time, Moise Kean from Juventus. Although this incoming brought a lot of expectations, it is fair to say that the expectations were not met, with Moise Kean only managing 2 league goals through the whole season, and Jean-Phillipe Gbamin being extremely unlucky with injuries, managing 2 appearances before getting a season-ending injury.
Manager, Marco Silva would go on to be sacked in December of that season, after a 5-2 demolition to Merseyside rivals, Liverpool at Anfield, shortly after being replaced by Duncan Ferguson as caretaker manager, and then Carlo Ancelotti on a permanent basis.
Iwobi was the last player to join the club, with his deal being completed on deadline day. There were reports throughout the summer that the blues had a long-standing interest in Crystal Palace forward, Wilfred Zaha and that Alex Iwobi was joining the club being the toffees second choice for the winger role, replacing the likes Yannick Bolasie and Ademola Lookman who had left the club that summer, both of whom had underwhelming careers at Everton also.
The next step in his career on Merseyside got off to a relatively decent start, scoring his first goal for the club in a 3-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, that would be the Nigerian’s last goal contribution that season, with his form dropping gradually and his place in the starting line-up being filled.
He was out of favour with new manager, Carlo Ancelotti, despite putting in some decent performances for caretaker manager, Duncan Ferguson and would only go on to start 19 games in his first season for the blues. His second season with the club was not much better only starting 17 games. Ancelotti evidently did not see a place in the lineup for Iwobi with Richarlison and James Rodriguez starting on the wings. One of his best games for the club to date did come in this season, however, with the Arsenal academy graduate being placed at right wing-back in Everton’s 3-2 win against Fulham, in which Iwobi put in a man-of-the-match performance.
Despite this poor start, since the appointment of Frank Lampard as manager and his transition to playing in the centre of midfield, he has been somewhat revolutionised. This season alone he has registered 3 assists, two of which coming in his last 2 Premier League games, a 1-0 win against West Ham at Goodison Park for Neal Maupay and most recently a 2-1 win over Southampton for Dwight McNeil.
With Iwobi’s contract due to expire at the end of next season, and he has become a valuable part of the Everton midfield, it seems that it is only a matter of time before Frank Lampard and Kevin Thelwell tie the Nigerian down to a new contract.
Joe Thomas has also recently reported: [via Liverpool Echo]
“Everton have opened talks with Alex Iwobi over a new contract”
Does Iwobi deserve a new contract ?
Yes
No
Let's not get ahead of ourselves
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