A dramatic outing on Saturday by Alex Iwobi with Fulham of England took the Super Eagles star to only 25 matches short of becoming the African player with the most appearances in the English Premier League.
Sports247 reports that Iwobi was on from the start for The Cottagers away to Aston Villa and got a weird assist with a corner kick that the hosts’ goalkeeper fumbled into his own net, which helped Fulham snatch a very useful 1-1 away draw.
Read Also: Halloween Fever Hits Showtime Flag Football League As Gameweek 6 Promises Revenge, Rivalries, Giant-Killing Drama And Prizes In Lagos | Sports247 Nigeria
On a personal note, though, the biggest and most symbolic talking point for Iwobi was that his 75 minutes of action at Villa Park helped him overtake Egypt’s former Liverpool winger, Mohamed Salah as Africa’s second-most capped player in the EPL’s record books.
A week before this past Saturday’s fixture, Iwobi had drawn level with Salah on 328 EPL games and his outing versus Villa took his log to 329, moving him to just 25 appearances behind the African record holder, Kolo Toure of Cote d’Ivoire, who featured for Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
With more games still ahead of 30-year-old Iwobi, barring injury, the former Arsenal and Everton dazzler looks good enough to surpass the current mark held by Toure, who leads the all-time ranking of African players in the EPL with 353 games.
All odds look good for Iwobi, who shot to limelight with Arsenal in 2015, after progressing from The Gunners’ youth squads and captained their under-21 team, then moved to Everton in 2019 and spent four seasons at Goodison Park before returning to London to sign for Fulham in September 2023.
Across his total log of 329 EPL games, Iwobi has 36 goals in the prestigious league – 11 at Arsenal, six for Everton and 19 in his ongoing tenure with Fulham, where he oscillates across alternating roles in central and attacking midfield, as well as down the wings or as a playmaker.
The possibility of Iwobi becoming Africa’s top footballer with most appearances in the EPL would be another epochal milestone for the dazzler, who this past September became the fifth player of any origin overall to get at least 100 EPL games with three different clubs.
After joining that iconic group alongside Gary Speed, Rory Delap, Gareth Barry and James Milner, the next target for Iwobi is to play 25 EPL games or more, then become Africa’s busiest player in the English top flight.
Sports247 reports further that the chances of Iwobi taking the record from Toure before the end of this season are very bright, as his team has 29 games to go and he has been a regular starter in all their outings so far, the latest of which saw him in dashing form versus Aston Villa on Saturday.
