Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Arsenal are in talks with Alex Iwobi about a new contract after his rapid emergence in the last month, and said he will respect the player’s desire to play at the Olympics for Nigeria this summer.
Iwobi, 19, has scored two goals in his first two Premier League starts, helping Arsenal beat Everton and Watford convincingly to maintain their slim hopes of catching Leicester atop the standings. And the forward now looks set to be rewarded with a new deal after previously signing one in October 2015.
“We are discussing it at the moment to extend [the contract],” Wenger told a news conference. “I think he is a real Arsenal person, because he has been here since the age of eight. He still has three years left at the end of the season, but of course we want to keep him here for longer. We’ve had some positives in the last two months with how well and how quickly he emerged as a player who has a good impact.”
Iwobi made his competitive debut for Nigeria over the recent international break, ending any chances of him switching allegiances to England instead. He was born in Lagos but grew up in London, and had represented England’s youth teams before being called up to Nigeria’s senior team last year.
The forward said this week that he wants to play for his country at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August, which would rule him out of the start of the new Premier League season. But Wenger said the club won’t try to prevent him from going.
“We have to respect his choice,” Wenger said. “In the end he choice Nigeria, and we respect that, with the possibility that he will go to the Olympic games and that he will go to the African Nations Cup and that he may travel a bit more than he would have done [with England]. We have to respect that.”
