The Nigeria international has struggled to establish his influence since joining the Toffees last year, but he maintains he won’t stop fighting to make an impact at Merseyside
Alex Iwobi says he draws motivation to excel for Everton Football Club and the Super Eagles from his family’s numerous sacrifices to see him succeed in the game.
Iwobi switched boyhood club Arsenal for Everton in the summer of 2019 and has made 44 appearances for the side from the blue-half of Liverpool.
It has not been smooth-sailing for the Nigerian midfielder who was not even in manager Carlo Ancelotti’s starting eleven after Everton made a brilliant start to the 2020/21 Premier League season.
But Iwobi has fought his way back into the former Real Madrid boss’s first-team plans, starting six games in a row and helping Everton record four wins and a draw, despite being deployed out of his traditional position.
The former Arsenal winger says he is being driven by the desire to prove that he’s got what it takes to star for both the English and African giants.
“Every day I try to prove to myself I should be here, that I should be playing for Everton,” said Iwobi to Everton’s matchday programme.
“That I should be in the starting XI. That I should be representing my country. I always have that motivation.
“Especially because of what my family went through for me to get where I am. It gives me that hunger to improve myself, and I work every day to try to do that.”
Iwobi started his career at Arsenal as an eight-year-old, moving through the London side’s youth teams before breaking into the first-team picture under the legendary Arsene Wenger.
The 24-year-old would later be a part of the Arsenal side that reached three Cup finals – the FA Cup, League Cup, and Europa League – and he reckons that the current Everton team is comparable to the Arsenal side he played for.
“I want to fight for not just me but the hundreds of thousands of Evertonians and the people who follow and support me.
“I feel I owe it to them to give 100 per cent every day.
“This Everton side is as good as the Arsenal teams I was in, absolutely,” added Iwobi.
Everton face Manchester United in the quarterfinal of the League Cup on Wednesday, December 23, and Iwobi will hope to power the Toffees past the Red Devils.
