On a recent episode of Royal Blue: The Everton FC Podcast, Liverpool Echo head of sport David Prentice discussed his frustrations with Everton forward, Alex Iwobi.
Since moving to Everton from Arsenal in a £27.36-million deal last summer, Iwobi has gone on to make 22 Premier League appearances for the Toffees, scoring just one goal and providing no assists, as well as averaging a disappointing WhoScored match rating of 6.61 – ranking him as Everton’s joint-12th-best player so far this season, prior to the club’s fixture against Southampton.
In a recent fixture of Everton’s – a particularly lifeless 1-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur – Iwobi once again failed to inspire for the Toffees – having no shots and completing no dribbles of the ball, culminating in a 5.85 match rating.
On the subject of the 24-year-old, David Prentice recently lambasted Iwobi on the Royal Blue podcast, suggesting that the former Arsenal man is “overpriced” as well as “enormously” frustrating.
He said: “Alex Iwobi frustrates me enormously. I have big rows with my son about it because he’s somebody that, should we politely say, fails to see any good in his game.
“Certainly, that performance against Leicester and the defensive display against Liverpool, you could sort of see why being he’d been recruited.
“Admittedly, [he cost] a huge sum of money – he looks overpriced at the moment, I have to say.
“Then when you have a promising performance like he did against Leicester, he just goes missing again in the game [on Monday]; that frustrates you enormously.”
TIF Thoughts…
Iwobi’s performances against Leicester and Liverpool that Prentice touches on have indeed been two of the player’s better displays in Everton’s recent games, with Iwobi earning a 6.76 and a 6.80 match rating respectively in the fixtures – bettered only in his last 10 Premier League appearances by his performance against Norwich, in which he earned an 8.32 match rating.
However, with a seasonal average rating of 6.61 so far this season – prior to Thursday’s fixture against Southampton – it is easy to see why Prentice also claims that Iwobi – who cost Everton £27.36 million – looks overpriced at present – an opinion that is backed up by Transfermarkt, who currently value the player at £22.95 million.
If a £20-million bid arrived for Alex Iwobi in the next transfer window, would you want it accepted?
No, he's good enough
Yes, we don't need him
