Everton Fan Q & A: Why is Alex Iwobi still playing?

Every week we’ll be asking Everton fans on our Twitter account for questions that will be answered by Goodison News correspondent Jack Cunningham. You can join in by following the Goodison News Twitter account and watching out for weekly mailbag posts.

Everton have hit a roadblock in their season after a strong start to the campaign.

Rafael Benitez’s side have lost three league games in a row, and they were awful in the first half against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Alex Iwobi pulled a goal back in the second half but did very little to have an actual impact on the game.

Everton

With that in mind, we asked for your burning questions about all things Everton-related for Goodison News correspondent Jack Cunningham to answer, and one Toffees fan wanted to know why Iwobi was still playing.

Thanks for the question, Logan, and I can imagine that many Toffees fans want to know the same thing.

Iwobi is into his third season with the Toffees since they signed him from Arsenal in the summer of 2019 for a huge fee.

Now in that time, he has scored six goals and provided just five assists in 76 appearances [transfermarkt].

Now, whatever way you look at that, it is a poor record for an attacking player who can either play on the wing or as an attacking midfielder.

So far this season, the Nigerian international has played in 11 games and appears to be keeping Anthony Gordon out of the squad, which is baffling.

Whenever the 20-year-old has played, he has looked lively and full of energy, while Iwobi just drifts through games without contributing very much.

The Toffees have made some poor signings over the years, but he must be up there with the worst of them, and it would be best for all parties if he were to leave [Liverpool Echo].

In the meantime, I can’t imagine Benitez will put up with him for much longer, and I would expect to see Gordon back in the starting XI very soon.

In other Everton news, the Toffees want to sign two players in the January transfer window.

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