Alex Iwobi says that he had the chance to join West Ham as a youngster before moving to Arsenal.
Iwobi joined the Gunners’ youth system in 2004, aged just eight, and has now broken into the first team under Arsene Wenger.
He made his debut for the club in 2015 in a 4-0 League Cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, and has been an important fixture in the squad ever since.
The Nigerian has made 11 appearances for the club this season, but has failed to score thus far.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the 20-year-old revealed that he had the opportunity to join West Ham as a youngster, but he opted for Arsenal instead because they are “the bigger club”.
“Arsenal and West Ham were interested in me and Chuba [Akpom], so we were training __with both clubs for three years, because we were scouted at six and you can’t sign until you’re nine,” he said.
“I decided to sign for Arsenal because I supported them back then and I always saw them as the bigger club – no disrespect to West Ham.”