Arsenal young guns Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Dan Crowley and Gedion Zelalem receive a lot of attention when people discuss the next big prospect to go through the youth ranks and into the first team of the north London side. However, 19-year-old midfielder Alex Iwobi is beginning to turn heads as well.  Iwobi, the nephew of former Nigeria great Jay-Jay Okocha, made his competitive debut with the Gunners back in October.  The match did not go well for his team, a shock 3-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, but the teenager was able to get his feet wet with the senior team.

A seemingly annual “injury crisis” granted Iwobi time with the first team Gunners starting in October.  Although he has only contributed a total of 32 minutes on the pitch during Premier League play this season, spending a significant amount of time with the first team, both in training and on match days, will certainly benefit the player.

Since the League Cup loss to the second-tier club three months ago, Iwobi has gradually gained more confidence and looks to have adapted well with the big boys.  This season’s FA Cup competition is where the youngster has received the majority of his minutes on the pitch so far.  Iwobi has started both matches of the reigning tournament champions, and has thoroughly impressed onlookers in the process.

The attacking midfielder/winger is not exactly flashy on the pitch and perhaps flies under the radar a bit as well.  That, however, is not a negative aspect of his play.  Iwobi is neat, tidy, and was adroit with the ball at his feet (especially in Arsenal’s 2-1 win against Burnley last weekend) during the two FA Cup matches in January.  No, he did not record an assist or score a spectacular goal in either game; however, Iwobi played a big part in both Arsenal’s goals against Burnley.

Iwobi first found teammate Alexis Sanchez on the edge of the box before the superstar Chilean assisted Calum Chambers for the first goal on the afternoon.  For the club’s second goal, the eventual match-decider, Iwobi placed a perfectly weighted pass into the waiting Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who then crossed the ball to the aforementioned Sanchez to give the Gunners the lead in the match.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, was quick to praise Iwobi following the Burnley match.  “I think he has shown everybody that he is a good player again,” Wengersaid. “I personally find him very interesting because of his decision making, his awareness is very interesting.  He is a boy who, two years ago, not many would have said he [will make it].  You see he develops very well because he’s very clever.”

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“I like his game,” Wenger continued.  “I like the timing of his decision making and the quality of his decision making.  He always turns where you want him to turn and he plays the ball where you want him to play the ball.  He can play on the left, he can play on the right, he can play behind the striker and he can even play as a number 9, because he scores goals in training.”

Despite the fact that Iwobi played for multiple England youth national teams, he made his senior debut for Nigeria (the country where the player was born) on October 8th of this past year.  He has already featured twice for the Super Eagles, and if his play continues to blossom as it should, Iwobi could very well be a mainstay with both Arsenal and Nigeria in the coming years.