'I'm not trying to stop' - Iwobi wants more after breaking PL record held by Chelsea icon Mikel

Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi has paid homage to Chelsea legend Mikel Obi, upon breaking his record for most minutes played by a Nigerian player in Premier League history.

The Hale End Academy product broke the record when he featured in Fulham's 1-0 loss to Newcastle on matchday 32 of the just concluded campaign which was played at the Craven Cottage.

He lasted the entire duration of the game and has a result took his number of minutes played in the English top-flight to 16,289 minutes, surpassing the number accumulated by Mikel while playing for Chelsea.

The 28-year-old made his Premier League debut in the 2015/2016 season for Arsenal and has gone on to feature prominently for the Gunners, Everton and now Fulham in the English top-flight.

Speaking in an interview with KISS Fresh, Iwobi expressed his elation upon breaking Mikel's history and also revealed that the Chelsea midfielder used to be one his idols.

"That's (breaking Mikel's record) crazy, but I'm not trying to stop. I'm trying to increase that, keep going, and whoever is going to come for that title has got to put in hard work," Iwobi said.

"That's a big achievement because John Obi Mikel is a legend in the game. The fact that I've played with him makes me feel old. He was actually my idol at one point. He's a legend."

The Fulham midfielder has not only surpassed the number of minutes played by the 2012 UEFA Champions League winner but also exceeded the number of matches the latter played in the English top-tier division.

He has now played 253 matches in the Premier League, which is four more than Mikel's but still has a long way to surpass the highest number of matches played by a Nigerian in the competition.

Shola Ameobi hold the record at the moment having featured in 299 games for Newcastle and Crystal Palace.

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

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