'He was talented at Arsenal' - Ex-England GK hails Fulham's recruitment policy, cites Iwobi as example

Former England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has praised Fulham for their recruitment policy, citing Arsenal Academy graduate Alex Iwobi as an example. 

Apart from the Nigeria international, the Cottagers have brought in fellow Arsenal alumni Bernd Leno, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson, as well as Joachim Andersen, Timothy Castagne, Andreas Pereira, Adama Traoré, Calvin Bassey and Raúl Jiménez in recent seasons.

The addition of these players has been instrumental in Fulham’s impressive Premier League campaign under Marco Silva, where they have lost just one of their last eleven games in the top division.

A win for Fulham in their ongoing match against Ipswich Town would leave them just two points shy of the top six, marking their best-ever Premier League points total after 20 games.

This season, Iwobi is in his best form as a Premier League player, with eight goal contributions in nineteen appearances.

Under the tutelage of Marco Silva, the Nigerian has established himself as an indispensable player during his second season at Craven Cottage.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Hart said: "Marco Silva has been really smart in how he has recruited at Fulham. 

"He has managed to tap into the mindset of some of these players that have not done so well before in the Premier League.

"Alex Iwobi is a great example. He was talented at Arsenal. At Everton you never knew what you were going to get, but he showed snippets of quality. Now at Fuham he is running the show.”

Iwobi spent fifteen years at Arsenal before he was sold to Everton for a fee of £35 million and returned to London to join Fulham in the summer transfer window of 2023.

Iwobi registered fifteen goals and twenty-one assists in 149 all-competition appearances for Arsenal, winning the FA Cup and Community Shield  before leaving the Emirates Stadium in 2019.

The £72 million signing of Nicolas Pepe, a club-record deal at the time, led Arsenal to let go of one of their academy graduates. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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