Alex Iwobi: ‘I had three offers to leave – people said Gunners did not love me’

Arsenal ace Alex Iwobi has revealed how close he came to leaveing the Gunners as a teenager. Iwobi has made 117 appearances for Arsenal since making his senior debut over three years ago. However, he has now opened up on how he could move to Crystal palace, Celtic or Southampton when he was 16. "My situation was weird," Iwobi recalled for Arsenal’s matchday programme. "There was three of us at the time and we were basically told: 'Stay if you want, or if not you are free to go'. "It was up to me and at that moment I went to the Crystal Palace training ground to see them. "I had offers from Celtic and Southampton as well. "Celtic was the main one but I wasn’t ready to go to Scotland. "I thought it was best to stay at Arsenal but I have to say it felt weird. "I was playing for England but I felt maybe I wasn’t rated. "My England team-mates and everyone else was getting in my ear saying that Arsenal don’t love me because they weren’t offering me a deal. "It was hard especially because at school as well everyone was talking about it." Iwobi was benched for Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Huddersfield at the Emirates last weekend and hopes to regain his starting spot against Qarabag.

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