Arsenal chose to sell off Alex Iwobi to Everton this summer and a number of pundits were clearly shocked at this move from Unai Emery.
Alex Iwobi featured heavily for Arsenal last season playing 1968 minutes across 35 league games which was proof enough that the manager had full faith in his talents.
But shockingly the Gunners chose to offload him this summer and that also to a direct rival like Everton. And now speaking about this transfer Nwankwo Kanu has claimed that was a bad decision from the manager.
“I would say they made a mistake, 100 per cent,” Kanu told Goal. “Why they let him go, I don’t know.
“He’s a boy who, in and out, is Arsenal. He always wanted to do his best for the club. He loves the club, but not only that he can play football.
“What he brings week in, week out, the fans need to appreciate that.
“I think he is still young and those are the type of people you want in the team, people who grew up here, who knows everything about the club and wants to die for the club.
“He was one of them, so for us to lose him and to let him go, was a shock. I couldn’t really believe we did it, but that’s football.”
VERDICT:
On paper, this might look like a really good sale since Arsenal have been able to squeeze out a good transfer fee from Everton. And on top of that, they have also brought in dynamic attackers like Dani Ceballos and Nicolas Pepe.
But in the long run, this choice might come back to haunt Unai Emery since the Gunners will be struggling really hard to keep hold of their current attacking talents.
Already there are reports that Barcelona want to make a move for Alexandre Lacazette since the Catalans see him as a long-term replacement to Luis Suarez.
Also, Aubameyang has entered the final phase of his playing career and the Gabon international might not be at the top of his game for too long.
So clearly in such a scenario, it was essential that the manager held on to someone like Alex Iwobi who is just 23 years old and is also regarded as one of the finest talents to have come out of the Arsenal academy in recent years.
