Alex Iwobi thriving under Ancelotti at Everton

Nigeria international Alex Iwobi is into his second season with Everton now in the Premier League in England.

The midfielder is playing some of the best football of his career under the highly regarded manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The Italian took over at Goodison Park in December 2019. Since that appointment, he has improved the team, bringing in the likes of Allan and James Rodriguez in the summer transfer window. Results have been very positive in the opening third of the campaign which leaves Toffees fans very excited about where their team will finish in the table.

Ancelotti has one of the best resumes in world football. He has managed Bayern Munich, Chelsea, PSG and Real Madrid and won major trophies at just about every club he has been at. He also is known for developing his players which bodes well for the Nigerian.

Everton have aspirations of breaking into Europe this season and challenging for the title in the Premier League in the next few years. Iwobi is very much part of those plans as his manager has a lot of confidence in the 24-year-old.

The Toffees are 10/1 in the football betting to finish in the top four this season. Iwobi and his teammates face competition from around six or seven clubs for one of those spots in the table. At the time of writing, the Merseyside club were eighth in the standings, just two points off fourth place.

Iwobi will be very familiar with the pressure of playing for a team which is aiming to finish in the top four. He played 149 matches for Arsenal, the club he began his professional career with. The Gunners were regulars in the Champions League spots during Iwobi’s stay in North London.

Iwobi has stated that playing for Ancelotti is similar to when he broke through as a youngster at Arsenal under Arsenal Wenger. The Frenchman is a legend at Arsenal after guiding the club to three Premier League titles.

The Super Eagles midfielder has played a number of positions this season for Ancelotti as the Italian has been hit with a number of injuries to his players. Iwobi’s durability has been praised by his manager, who has even used him in a wing-back position in a 3-2 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

If Iwobi continues to improve as a player, it will be good news for the Nigeria national team. The Everton man was in good form for his country last month as he scored in back-to-back games against Sierra Leone in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign. The Super Eagles have now qualified for the final of that tournament which will begin in January 2022.

Iwobi is one of the players in contention to win the African Player of the Year award in 2020. If successful, he will be the first Nigerian to lift the trophy since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999.

The Premier League star is set to be back in action for the Super Eagles in March when they take on Benin, while later that month they host Lesotho in the final game of the Africa Cup of Nations qualification campaign.