Pulse Exclusive: Unai Emery cuts Iwobi’s holiday by one week as he orders him to resume pre-season with Arsenal
A source close to Iwobi dispels fears over the players future at Arsenal under new manager Emery.
Alex Iwobi cut short his vacation and headed to Lagos for a commercial engagement for a TV brand with his dad, Chuka, his rep Frederick and some of his friends.
Iwobi had flown to an unknown destination to let his hair down, aiming to get his deserved rest ahead of the new and tensed season with Arsenal.
Back at Arsenal’s training headquarters Colney, his teammates had resumed preseason to an uncertain and very radical atmosphere distinct from the calm and familiar scene of Arsene Wenger’s years.
The calm aura of Wenger has now been replaced by the tensed Spanish-accentuated voices of Unai Emery and his fiery assistant Juan Carlos Carcedo.
A host of players resumed pre-season with a point to prove to the new manager and the word soon got around ‘everything is different around here’.
Trip to Lagos
With this info, Iwobi was resting, preparing his mind for the task ahead when the deal came for him to fly to Lagos for the commercial engagement with cable giants DSTV.
While he was preparing for his trip to Lagos, he got the call from Emery. “I want you back ASAP,” the new Arsenal manager told him.
Iwobi was initially given four weeks off which was to start the next week after the Super Eagles of Nigeria crashed out of the World Cup.
But on the orders of Emery, he has to cut his holiday by a week, resume at Arsenal and join the squad for their pre-season trip to Singapore.
“All the players are the same," Emery told Arsenal Player.
"They have the same holidays. I know Iwobi, Elneny and Mesut Ozil. He's coming with us to Singapore the first day.”
Iwobi arrived in Nigeria on Saturday, July 14 and for the next three days, he was busy with his commercial engagement.
He was on set of a commercial on Sunday and Monday and on Tuesday, he had a meet and greet with customers of DSTV at their head office in Victoria Island Lagos.
It was a tiring and stressful three days for the 22-year-old who already had pre-season on his mind.
“We only had to take this deal, because it’s a big one,” a source very close to Iwobi told Pulse Sports.
On Wednesday morning, the Super Eagles star jetted out to London from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
Iwobi faces a very crucial season at Arsenal after two unconvincing seasons but sources close to him have no fears over his future at the club.
“Emery clearly wants him in his plans, he cut short his holiday by one week and said ‘I want you on the pre-season tour of Singapore with me,” the source told Pulse Sports.
“Emery has been talking to Iwobi since he was appointed, he called him and also texted him before the World Cup.
“There is nothing to worry about, he has to work hard and show what he can do next season.”
Iwobi joined Arsenal at the age of six and after going through the grades he made the senior debut for the club in a League Cup game in October 2015.
Four days after, he made his Premier League debut as a stoppage-time substitute for Ozil.
His breakthrough season came in the 2016/2017 season which saw him impress in the early stages before losing form although he ended that season with an FA Cup medal.
For Arsenal, Iwobi has eight goals in 65 appearances.
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