Former Super Eagles captain, Nwankwo Kanu, has criticised former club, Arsenal, for selling Alex Iwobi to Everton on transfer deadline day.
Iwobi has since scored twice in three games for his new club having left his boyhood team after 149 appearances.
Kanu believes Iwobi will prove to be a huge loss to the North London club.
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“I would say they made a mistake, 100 per cent,’ the Olympic gold medallist told Goal. “Why they let him go, I don’t know.
“He’s a boy who, in and out, is Arsenal. He always wanted to do his best for the club. He loves the club, but not only that he can play football.
“What he brings week in, week out, the fans need to appreciate that.
“I think he is still young and those are the type of people you want in the team, people who grew up here, who knows everything about the club and wants to die for the club.
“He was one of them, so for us to lose him and to let him go, was a shock. I couldn’t really believe we did it, but that’s football.”
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Kanu also admitted he would have advised Iwobi to remain with Arsenal had he been asked by his compatriot.
“It was a surprise to everybody because it happened right at the end of the window,” said Kanu.
“If I knew earlier, I could have said to him not to go and that it was better for him to stay.
“I would have said that there was no need for him to go because at Arsenal he will still play. He’s that good and he needs to know that.
“I think Arsenal would have been the best place for him because it’s a big club and you want to play in a big club and in Europe. Those are the games you want to play.”
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Kanu made 119 appearances for Arsenal from 1999 to 2004, scoring 37 times.
Iwobi made 100 senior appearances for the club from 2015 to 2019, scoring 11 times.
Iwobi’s uncle, Austin Okocha, played alongside Kanu in the Super Eagles and they were both on the Dream Team squad that won the football gold at the 1994 Olympics in Atlanta, USA.
