Hindsight: Would Arteta have sold Super Eagles star if he met him at Arsenal?

The transfer window is rumbling on with fans eager to see which players their clubs would end up with ahead of the 2022/2023 season which is shaping up to be a cracker.

Arsenal have had a stunning transfer window, signing the likes of Matt Turner, Marquinhos, Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

However, it seems the business is not yet ended for the Gunners as they hope to complete a few more incoming and outgoing deals.

In this article, allnigeriasoccer.com will be taking a hindsight look at Alex Iwobi who was sold to Everton in 2019 for 35 million pounds during the reign of Unai Emery.

After a year and six months at the helm, Emery was sacked and Arteta was appointed. This begs the question, would Arteta have sold Iwobi if he met him at Arsenal?

While Iwobi had his faults like his decision-making in the final third, he was often misunderstood. The Nigerian was judged based on his time on the flanks whereas his strengths lie elsewhere, Iwobi is a classy interior player.

He is excellent in the half-spaces with his ability to hold on to the ball, move between the lines and driving forward at pace very valuable to a positional play team.

He is also very good at linking play from deep midfield to the more attacking players. Simply put, Iwobi is an excellent number eight.

Arteta's Arsenal are already knee-deep in the Juego De Posición tactical set-up. This strategy requires one defensive midfielder and two interiors.

Due to the absence of a natural interior, Arteta has groomed Granit Xhaka for the role last season as we often see a midfield three of Partey, Xhaka and Odegaard.

Now, let's imagine Iwobi in the Xhaka role and we can see that he will very much perform there.

He would be free to roam the right-hand side, with lesser defensive responsibilities and goalscoring burden. Iwobi's dribbling, runs and ball-carrying are far more superior to Xhaka's whose main strength is his passing.

Allnigeriasoccer.com thinks Arteta would not have sold Iwobi had he met the Nigerian at the club at the time of his arrival.

 
Sofoluwe Mayowa

Photo Credit : arsenal.com

Copyright ANS

All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from allnigeriasoccer.com