02-05-2025
Alex Iwobi: I was slide-tackling my sister's dolls before I could walk
When Fulham run out at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime, you may think, knowing it is his 29th birthday, you see a broader smile on the face of Alex Iwobi but, while he may be relieved to have missed the traditional training-ground birthday slapping, he will not be any happier than usual.
'I'll just see it as another day,' he says. 'I celebrate every day like it's my birthday. That's how I live my life.'
It is a life that feels predestined. His uncle from his mother's side is the legend that is Jay-Jay Okocha, his father played to club level in Nigeria and so it is no surprise to learn that Iwobi was slide-tackling before he could walk properly.
'My sister's dolls, my action figures, balloons, even if it was a Coca-Cola can that's on the floor, instead of picking it up, I'd go and slide-tackle it,' he says.
Does he ever see elements of his father and uncle in his own game?
'Not to diss my dad, but I don't think I am anything like my dad,' he smiles. 'Apparently my dad was just a runner.' He pauses. 'Then again, I can run. I feel like I got the stamina from him. His football ability was OK. My uncle was an attacking player, maybe more in a free role, which is what I do. And he always liked to express himself when he had the ball at his feet, which is what I see in myself.'
Chuka Iwobi is famous for being seen out and about wearing replica kit bearing his son's name.
'Well, to be fair, any person who finds him a T-shirt his size, he'd wear it because I have a lot of friends that play football from childhood, so the other day he was wearing an Ola Aina [Iwobi's Nigeria team-mate] shirt. He likes to shop at M&S, no disrespect to M&S, but he'd rather wear a football shirt than his M&S clothes.
'My dad gets so much pleasure seeing other people do well, especially me and my sister. For example, my sister Marie started singing recently. She gave her first performance, and I could see how proud my mum and dad were, and I could see that they get more joy from us achieving than themselves.
'She likes to sing like she's Beyoncé. She thinks she's Beyoncé,' he grins, 'but to be fair, she's really talented.'
If only there were a member of the Iwobi family who worked in the music industry. Step forward Iwobi, who is unusual among Premier League players for having a discography entry on his Wikipedia page, which lists two tracks, Don't Shoot and What's Luv? which he wrote as well as sings on. He has even performed in front of a live audience for a YouTube Champions League show.
'My sister did get on to me yesterday saying that we need to do something. I made songs with her for banter, but she said that we should release something soon, so I said, 'Yeah, don't worry, we'll work on something.'
'I will say it, I'm going to put pressure on myself, I'm going to say it's definitely going to happen.'
Which will be music to the ears of Marco Silva, his manager, who recently said he would very much like his midfielder to pursue such interests. This is because word leaked out that Iwobi has been known in his spare time to play in five-a-side matches as a means of ensuring he does not forget the joy of a kick-about with mates. Naturally, he has to go in disguise.
'It's normally winter so it's cold and I can get away wearing a snood and a balaclava, everyone just normally sees the eyes and the mouth, but I get hot sometimes and obviously it's hard to hide my hair,' he says. 'I've got colourful hair [that he has been growing for eight years] so people do know me but when I'm in the moment playing, no one bothers me.
'The last time I probably went was November, but I remember stopping because the Christmas period in football gets hectic. I normally go there to just have fun and express myself, enjoy it, feel free because playing football can be stressful, especially when you're not going well. So that was my escapism, but at the same time I do get why people say don't go play five-a-side because it can get a bit dangerous, you might get injured but it kind of helped me stay sharp.'
Did his managers at Arsenal, then Everton, know about his escapades?
'I think some managers knew,' he says. 'Most of the players knew because I had most of the players on my private chat and I told them, 'I'm going.' I just love playing with my friends, just the banter, feeling free, it makes me laugh. That's when I'm probably at my happiest.
'No one's ever said not to do it, they've always said be careful, because they know how much I enjoy it and I've never, touch wood, been injured from it.'
And what does Silva think?
'I haven't been in a long while but obviously it's come out and he knows and he's asked me about it.'
Did he ask him about it with a smile or a frown?
'There's a smile,' Iwobi says. 'I don't know what sort of smile it is but there's a smile.'
But he can see why Silva might be worried?
'Of course, no coach wants their players to go and get injured outside of football. He just said, 'Did you go?' and I said, 'Yeah,' but I haven't been since November, December.
'I think it's probably safer I don't go during the season.'
Iwobi was often given negative general feedback as he made his way through the Arsenal academy but made 149 appearances for the north London club before joining Everton in 2019.
'I think the turning point for me was after Afcon [in 2022]. I came back to Everton having a red card [against Tunisia] and they were saying you might have to go, and I thought, 'No, this is where I have to prove myself,' and I had a manager in Frank Lampard who gave me the opportunity to do so. Ever since then I've literally taken it on myself.'
It helped that Silva, who signed Iwobi when at Goodison, wanted him when he took over at Fulham.
'He always says, 'There's a reason why I brought you back to Fulham,' ' Iwobi says, and the midfielder has been instrumental in the team's push for a European place this season. But the side have a tendency to outwit the bigger teams, drawing with and then defeating Liverpool, the champions, for example, only to drop points against those further down the table.
'We do talk about it among ourselves, like, why are we able to beat Liverpool and not get the three points against other teams? We try to figure it out,' he says.
It takes a while to find something that Iwobi finds nerve-racking. He is not nervous when he plays, no matter the occasion, such as when he came off the bench in the Europa League final for Arsenal in 2019, and not when rapping in front of strangers.
'I really don't get nervous. I wish I did, because sometimes people say that it helps, but no, the singing was obviously a different sort of stage, a different sort of feeling, because when it's football you've got your team-mates to help you and it's what you can do with your feet, whereas on stage, you've got a mic in your hand. I was listening out for when do I start, my breathing technique, so there's a lot to focus on. And because it was my first time, it took a while to get used to. But I wasn't nervous, I was excited.'
OK, would he jump out of a plane?
'Impossible,' he says. 'I'm afraid of heights. A lot of people know I'm afraid of heights. I went to Duck and Waffle [a restaurant in a 61-storey London skyscraper] the other day, and you have to go up a lift, and it's glass. I had to close my eyes. I'm afraid of heights. I just feel sick. That's the only time I feel uncomfortable.'
He was not uncomfortable, exactly, when he arrived at Fulham two years ago to be given the No 22 shirt, even though he had set up Project 17 to handle his charity and music interests.
'I wouldn't say it was annoying because, at the end of the day, I was excited to have a new chapter in my life and move back to London,' he says. 'Obviously, Fulham's a great club. So I wasn't really focused on the number. At the end of the day, a number's a number.
'But I did speak to Bernd Leno saying, 'Next season, please can I have your No17?'
'When I moved into the first-team changing room [at Arsenal], they said you have to pick a number that's lower than 39, and the number that was available was 17. And ever since I've been 17.
'Project 17 is something that me and my close friends came up with. We all have nicknames and my nickname is 17 just because of football. When I was at Arsenal, they used to call me Big 17. So then it just became a thing with my friends when I go back to my area. 'Oh, 17, 17.' Instead of saying my full name because sometimes I like to be low key and they wouldn't want everyone to know it's Alex Iwobi and everyone turns around.
'So they would just say, '17, 17,' and it just became a habit. When I moved to Everton and we wanted to do charity stuff, my friend said the best name was Project 17. And that's how it came about.'
He was moved most by helping out at a homeless shelter in Dagenham at Christmas giving out food and clothing.
'When people come up to me and they say, 'Oh you don't understand how much this means,' and they're just almost breaking down into tears, that's proper sweet, that's emotional. I need to do more things like that.'
