Alex Iwobi has revealed Arsenal were close to releasing him during his time with the club s youth academy.
The Nigeria international joined the Arsenal academy at the tender age of nine and made his first-team debut in a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday in October 2015.
Iwobi has since developed into an important member of Arsene Wenger s team, but he has made it clear things could very well have panned out differently.
I was almost released at 14, again at 16 and just about got a professional contract after that, the 20-year-old forward told Standard Sport.
Especially at 14, I thought I was very close to not making it. It was stressful as I was going through school, trying to balance that and make sure I was still signed for Arsenal. It was really difficult for me.
We usually found out in December who might be kept on but I kept on getting the question is he good enough? So they extended it to see if I could do something and it went to March and then April. Luckily I did enough.
At 16, I got the option to leave but I always felt at home at Arsenal and that was where I wanted to be.
At 16, there were a lot of good players, a few internationals in the team at a young age so it was difficult for me to stand out in the games. They always want the best and I wasn t really up there at that age. The fact that I kept getting chances makes me feel lucky.
