Alex Iwobi breaks silence on Everton exit to Fulham – ‘there are things I’m not allowed to say’
Alex Iwobi says it “wasn’t an easy decision” to leave Everton after the fans “warmed” to him but feels it was the “best solution”.
The now-Fulham midfielder told The Athletic (2 October) that it was a decision between himself and the club to go as he felt he “needed a new challenge” but says he “left on good terms”, although there are elements to his departure that he’s “not allowed to say”.
The 27-year-old had long been expected to sign a new contract at Goodison Park but a deal was struck on deadline day (1 September) to send him to Craven Cottage after it emerged he would no longer be extending his deal, with the price of up to £22million [Daily Mail, 2 September] likely key to the cash-strapped Toffees.
Iwobi said of his exit: “It wasn’t an easy decision (to leave). I enjoyed my time there. Especially the last couple of years. I felt like they warmed to me. At the same time, I felt I needed a new challenge, and Fulham are giving me the platform to express myself and do that.”
And of the financial issues at the club having an effect: “There was a lot of talks behind closed doors — there are things that I’m not allowed to say — but I feel like it was a decision from the club and from me that the best solution was to leave. I hope they do well, I have a lot of respect for them and left on good terms.”
Disappointing end
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Given prospective new owners 777 Partners have already had to provide a loan towards the day-to-day running of the club [Athletic, 18 September], and likely to need to do so again, then the financial situation must have played a role.
With a takeover in the offing and all sorts of chaos left behind at Goodison Park it is perhaps no surprise that Iwobi can’t go into detail, and arguably not a huge shock that he might have wanted to be reunited with Marco Silva at Fulham.
But it is certainly not how fans would have envisaged his time at the club ending when a year ago he was being regularly praised as the star of Frank Lampard’s side.
At that point new deals for him, Anthony Gordon and Jordan Pickford were all in the works, and yet now only one even remains at the club with the winger sold to Newcastle last January.
Iwobi’s influence had wained after being shifted back out wide under Sean Dyche, and his key role has been relatively well filled by Abdoulaye Doucouré.
Attacking options were signed this summer, although the financial outlay has been heavily backloaded as nothing will be paid on Beto or Youssef Chermiti until the next financial year [Athletic, 5 September], but Iwobi and Demarai Gray leaving late on put a dampener on things.
It is a measure of the complete lack of stability at Everton in recent years that the situation around Iwobi, the manager he thrived under, key teammates, and the ownership, have all changed so much in such a short space of time and illustrates how badly the club needs a sustainable long-term solution.
