Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi has lifted the lid on his decision to knock back Celtic.
The Nigeria international came through the academy ranks at Arsenal and went on to make over 100 appearances for the Premier League giants – before drawing a line up his career at the Emirates with a big-money move to Everton in 2019. However, with The Toffees attempting to balance the books amid the threat of Financial Fair Play sanctions he would make the switch to Craven Cottage in 2023 in a £22m move.
Since then, he has emerged as a key man for Fulham as they cemented their place as mainstay in the English top flight. But the 28-year-old has now revealed that things could have been very different for him had he decided to leave Arsenal for Scotland as a youngster – admitting he was “meant” to join Celtic before agreeing a football scholarship in North London.
Speaking to The Fulham Fix about his rise, Iwobi said: “When you actually have to leave school and it’s full time football, that’s when I thought ‘okay, it’s getting serious now that I need to buckle up’. And at 16, I got told I had the option to leave Arsenal or go to another club or sign a scholar. So I was like, what do I do here?
“Because I mean, I couldn’t make, I just think of the decisions I made when I was 16 and none of them were sensible. You didn’t have an option to sign for Arsenal, I’m afraid.
“Everyone has different paths, but I’ve always had a great support system. Like my dad and my mum and my sister have always been around to say that. When I was younger, there’s many times I’ve been told, oh, you’re not good enough, you’re not good enough.
“And that was just another moment. I was the only one playing for England at the time that didn’t get offered a professional contract where there was like six of them. So I only just had a scholar and they said, ‘oh, if you want to go, you can go’.
“So I was meant to go to Celtic. I went to see Crystal Palace. I know there was one more team I can’t remember, but I remember going to Crystal Palace and training ground at 16. Me and my dad said ‘no, you’ve been in this position before where they said, you’re not good enough, go prove them wrong again’. So I was like, okay, cool, I’m going to sign my scholar.”