Arsenal: Alex Iwobi comments justify selling

Alex Iwobi has spoked about his desire to break out of his shell at Everton this season. His comments prove why Arsenal were right to sell: he never would have got the chance to in north London and his value would never be as high.

For plenty of years now, Arsenal have been needing to be more ruthless in their personnel management. Such is the ever-positive way in which they tend to view their own players, they have largely been overly patient in waiting for their prospects to discover their potential.

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This has a very obvious knock-on effect. Even though many of these players only have a very slim chance of ever making it as a first-team contributor in north London, the patience shown often leads to a point in which when it comes to selling, the price has dropped substantially. For various different reasons, but largely due to hesitation on the club’s part, Jack Wilshere, Abou Diaby, Joel Campbell, Chuba Akpom, Kieran Gibbs, Wojciech Szczesny all left the club for far less than their market value.

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So this summer, it was extremely positive to see Arsenal sell young midfielder Alex Iwobi for potentially as much as £40 million to Everton, given the meeting of certain clauses. Is Iwobi a talented player with a potentially bright future? Yes, of course. But what is the likelihood that he will ever truly break into the Gunners starting XI? Not all that high. And Iwobi’s recent comments regarding why he made the Merseyside switch are proof of such:

"“The offer was too attractive for me to turn down. The manager was telling me: ‘There is a spot for you, we will take care of you’. Basically, all the things you want to hear as a player. He has given me the confidence I will do well. I am ready for a new challenge and chapter in my life. I always had that ‘youngster’ tag at Arsenal, so hopefully, with this move I am able to make a name for myself in the Premier League and create history with Everton. Hopefully, I will be able to take on a bit more responsibility and add something to the team as well.”"

As Iwobi rightly highlights, at the Emirates, he was always viewed as a ‘youngster’, a player with an admirable skill set and high potential, but could never be relied upon to start on a regular basis. However, Iwobi turned 23 in May. He is not a young prospect anymore. That does not mean that he cannot continue to improve. He can. But he needs to be seen as a key contributor, not a prospect.

And the key problem for him at Arsenal was that that was very unlikely to ever be the case. He might have finally figured it all out, he may have moved into central midfield and shined, as I have posited many times before, he may still fulfil his potential at Everton and the Gunners might end up ruing the sale, even for £40 million. But the likelihood of this coming to pass is extremely low.

This is the crucial difference between how Iwobi was handled any many who came before him. In previous years, Arsenal will have seen Iwobi as a ‘potentially £40 million player’, and so they would have not sold, keen to wait to see if he can fulfil that potential. But with every year they wait and he does not take a step forward, his value diminishes. By being ruthless, the club has now maximised Iwobi’s value.

Is it a shame to see the Nigerian leave? Could he still have the career this his greatest admirers believe? Absolutely. But the probability is low, and mastering the transfer window is a game of probability. Arsenal, for once, are now on the right side of it.