Alex Iwobi: Fulham’s Nigerian Metronome

Zach Lowy says Alex Iwobi is one of Fulham’s unsung heroes this season, as the Whites push for a European berth in their final seven games.

We are entering the home stretch of the 2024/25 season, and there are more than a few storylines that have captured the eyeballs of fans and neutrals alike. Liverpool are all but guaranteed to win their 20th championship, while Nottingham Forest are on the cusp of returning to the Champions League after four decades. Newcastle have ended their long-awaited trophy drought, while Arsenal, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United are eyeing European silverware.

With so many fascinating stories across England’s top-flight, it’s little surprise that Fulham’s season has gone under the radar. The Cottagers sit eighth in the Premier League table and are on track for their third straight midtable finish. And after subjecting Liverpool to only their second league defeat of the campaign, Marco Silva’s side have already matched last season’s win tally (13).

Unsung hero

There are plenty of reasons behind Fulham’s success. Raúl Jiménez and Rodrigo Muniz have chipped in the goals, Antonee Robinson has continued to demonstrate why he is one of the top left-backs in Europe, while Saša Lukić and Sander Berge have formed a rock-solid double pivot. However, perhaps no player has been more important than Alex Iwobi.

At nearly 29 years of age, Alex Iwobi has spent the past decade playing regular Premier League football, but it’s clear that he’s reached a new level at Fulham since joining in 2023. His first season in West London would see him surpass John Obi Mikel as the Nigerian with the most minutes played in the Premier League, and it also saw him help fill the void left by Aleksandr Mitrović and provide some much-needed creativity and dynamism in the final third. Midway through the campaign, Iwobi jetted off to the Ivory Coast and helped Nigeria reach the final, where they relinquished an early lead and lost to the hosts. In response, Iwobi was subject to a barrage of insults on social media from his countrymen and was prompted to delete over 100 Instagram posts. But he hasn’t dwelled on it – instead, he’s gone about playing the best football of his career.

Intelligence and impact

Iwobi’s versatility and in-game intelligence has enabled him to slot into a number of roles from left winger to right winger to interior midfielder, capable of working his magic and threading the ball into advanced areas. He doesn’t need all the spotlight – he’s someone who is more than capable of sacrificing and playing in an “unnatural role” in order to allow other players like Willian and Adama Traoré to thrive in their preferred position. Wherever he plays, Iwobi makes a difference with his ability to dribble out of tight areas, eviscerate defenses with a well-timed through ball, and use his physical prowess and close control to avoid coughing up possession and keeping the ball glued to his feet.

The Nigerian is racking up 1.3 successful dribbles per 90 with a 53% success rate, second only to Adama Traoré (1.4), whilst only Andreas Pereira (1.8) is averaging more key passes per 90 than Iwobi in the Premier League (1.7), according to Sofascore. But he’s not just an aesthetically pleasing player who can enchant crowds with his delightful roulettes and turn-of-the-shoulder; he’s someone who is constantly combining style with substance. Iwobi has created 10 big chances, level with Traoré atop Fulham’s squad. 

He’s showcased his physical mettle time and time again and has proven more than capable of doing the dirty work to help his team out when required, as seen on October 5 when Fulham travelled to defending champions Manchester City. Forced to deputize in the right wing-back position, Iwobi held his own against Jack Grealish and Jéremy Doku and made three tackles and two clearances as well as one interception, whilst he also came out on top in five of his seven ground duels. 

More of the same

We saw yet another glimpse of his sensational level on Sunday, trapping the ball in the box, carefully turning and allowing an overlapping run to develop before deciding to go it alone and fire a rocket into the top-right corner, whilst he also assisted Rodrigo Muniz’s goal in the 3-2 victory against Liverpool. Iwobi leads Fulham’s squad for Expected Assists (6.07), whilst only Jiménez is averaging more shots on target (0.9) than Iwobi (0.8) and more shots per 90 (2.5) than Iwobi (1.8). Furthermore, only Jiménez has as many goal contributions (13) as Iwobi.

“Alex Iwobi has always been a very important player for Nigeria and Fulham and that’s going to continue,” stated Nigeria legend Mutiu Adepoju. “Sometimes, you’ll have a situation where for one reason or another, you have a dip in form and you have a bad game, and that was what happened to Iwobi at last year’s AFCON.”

“I know that he’s a very strong player, and when you’re strong psychologically, it’s easier to get things right. He’s doing things very well for Fulham this season and he’s going to continue being very important for the Nigerian national team,” added Adepoju, who led Nigeria to their first-ever World Cup in 1994 and won the AFCON that same year.

Having registered 36 goal contributions in 149 Arsenal appearances and 25 goal contributions in 140 Everton appearances, Iwobi has already registered 21 goal contributions in 70 Fulham appearances. He has made Craven Cottage his new home and emerged as a fan favorite, and if he continues improving at this rate, it will only be a matter of time before Fulham decide to renew his contract past its current expiration date of 2028.