'Compare Jay-Jay With Ronaldinho Not Iwobi' - Okocha Talks About Progress Of Ex-Arsenal Star

Former Nigeria international Emma Okocha is delighted with the progress his nephew, Alex Iwobi has made over the years and has urged fans and pundits alike not to put the young player under pressure by comparing him with Jay-Jay Okocha.

Iwobi joined Arsenal at the age of eight and rose through the ranks before making his first team debut in a League Cup clash against Sheffield Wednesday in October 2015.

Having made 149 appearances for the Gunners, Iwobi became the most expensive Nigerian player in history when he moved to Everton for a fee of 35 million pounds just before the close of the summer transfer window.

"Alex getting to this point is not a surprise and I know he'll do better. He broke into that level where people started asking questions, comparing him to Jay-Jay because of the relationship," Emma Okocha said to the Super Eagles Media Team in a Instagram conversation.

"But they forget that he's just another Nigerian like every other guy, playing for Nigeria, playing for Arsenal.

"Playing for Arsenal built him up, people still appreciate that. They were about 24 when they were picked up at seven or eight.

"He played for England youth, captained Arsenal's U19s and U23s. A lot of people went through that and couldn't play for the first team."

Okocha revealed that Iwobi leaving his comfort zone made the Super Eagles playmaker more responsible, and pointed out that the Everton number 17 has kept his head down as he aims to improve his game.

"He broke into the first team, stayed for a while, and had this big transfer, a massive transfer for me because the move to Everton made him more responsible for himself.

"He moved away from the family to another city so that's a bigger challenge and he's taking it well.

"Compare Jay-Jay with the likes of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Messi (not Iwobi). In this era don't compare anybody with Messi, that would be unfair. That would put the young man under unnecessary pressure.

"Alex is such a wonderful boy, very humble, takes corrections, he wants to learn, he wants to improve, he works very hard and he lives a decent professional life," added Okocha.

Iwobi, who recently turned 24, has been capped 40 times by the Super Eagles and has seven goals to his name.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel