Reports in Italy indicate that Alex Iwobi will soon be offloaded by Arsenal, adding that the Nigerian is being courted by Lazio.
According to dailycannon.com, Italian news outlet, Il Messaggero has written that Iwobi, who reminds them of Felipe Anderson, could turn out to be ‘an opportunity not to be missed.’
They believe Arsenal would want a fee in the region of €25 million for him.
According to the publication, Iwobi, 22, has certainly staled since he broke through into the Arsenal first team under Arsene Wenger. There were hopes that under Emery he could kick on again and get back some of the sparkle he showed when he first made himself known to Arsenal supporters.
Iwobi has been included in Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Singapore and Emery gave no hint that the Hale End graduate’s future was at risk.
Iwobi admitted that he ‘didn’t do well’ at the World Cup but admits being played out of position is a ‘sacrifice’.
Iwobi started for Nigeria against Croatia before being benched for the games against Iceland and Argentina.
He played just one minute against each of those two teams and was substituted against Croatia. In total, Iwobi played just 62 minutes in Russia.
“The number 10 position is where I have grown up playing. When I play out wide, it is normally to sacrifice to help the team but anywhere I am told to play, I don’t mind,” Iwobi said before the Super Eagles game against Argentina.
“I didn’t do well against Croatia, it was a hard game for everyone. Iceland, I came on and I did my best but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how I do as long as the team does well.”
In total, Iwobi has seven competitive international caps for Nigeria since his debut in a friendly against DR Congo in October 2015.
Picking up a total of 22 caps, he has played 90 minutes just three times.
Nigeria finished third in Group D, one point behind second-placed Argentina. They won three points thanks to their 2-0 win over Iceland in their second game.
