Arsenal: Alex Iwobi standing firm amidst rumors and… still trying

Alex Iwobi blasted rumors that he was ready to quit Arsenal, and I applaud him for that, but on the pitch, I guess we can stay he’s just ‘still trying.’

I love when fake news gets blasted, and I don’t care who is doing the blasting. Alex Iwobi took to social media to oust all the rumors saying he would “quit” Arsenal if Wilfried Zaha arrived, and I got a fuzzy tingle just from seeing it. I wish more players would rub clickbait in the mud.

Which means that, in case you had any doubts, Alex Iwobi won’t be leaving the club, and will stay to fight for a place, clinging staunchly to the hopes of being something special, like he’s been trying to be for the past half decade.

The problem with Iwobi was always the hype. We hadn’t see a young attacker like him come up in some time and, in response, everyone flew onto the bandwagon, claiming that he was going to be the next big thing.

That hasn’t materialized. And Alex Iwobi is now 23. And he’s not exactly fighting hard to become that superstar we thought he would be either. Truthfully, he’s fighting inaccurate rumors harder.

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I’m waiting for someone to call 2019/20 a “do or die” season for Alex Iwobi. Because I’ll be there to say that honestly, I think we’re past that. I think we’ve seen how good Iwobi can be if we use him properly. I think we see that he can be a quality rotational option, as well as a solid midweek starter. And I think we’ve seen that our hopes of him becoming an international superstar were… unfounded at best.

That doesn’t mean he’ll stop trying. Like I said, he’s still talented, he’s still valuable, and he is still young enough to carry a lot of upward mobility, but the shakiness in front of goal looks like it might be around for the long haul. Meaning that we are either going to have to repurpose him, which we’re running out of time to do, or we’re going to have to accept his deficiencies and understand that goals and assists aren’t going to be an easy ask for him.

It’s not like it’s the end of the world. He has his purpose on the club and he’s still trying for more. Of course, with the upswing of youth, he may find that his efforts aren’t enough before much longer…