“Ronaldinho Held Me as a Baby”: Iwobi Brags About Where He Got His Skills

• Super Eagles midfielder Alex Iwobi is one of the most skilful currently active Nigerian footballers
• Iwobi is the cousin of Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, who is widely regarded as one of the most talented African stars
• The Fulham star has explained a likely connection between his skillfulness and an event from his childhood

Alex Iwobi is one of the most skilful Nigerian footballers, and he has opened up on a possible connection between his skillfulness and an event from his childhood.

Iwobi was born in Lagos and moved to England as a child, where he grew up at Arsenal’s academy and rose to make his professional debut with the first team in 2015.

As noted by Goal, he spent four seasons with his boyhood club before joining Everton in the summer of 2019, a move his uncle, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, described as “obliged” to.

The versatile attacker spent another four seasons at Merseyside before returning to London with Fulham in 2023 and has settled in nicely at Craven Cottage.

Iwobi brags about Ronaldinho’s connection

Iwobi is a highly technical player who utilises his trickery and passing to influence the game from deep in midfield, as an attacking midfielder, and occasionally on the wing.

Fans place high expectations on him because of his family connection to Jay-Jay Okocha, who is widely regarded as one of the best talents to come out of Africa.

Iwobi may have heightened the weight of expectations on him after revealing that Brazilian legend and one of the best tricksters, Ronaldinho, held him as a baby.

“What was mad was that I was in Barcelona and I saw Ronaldinho. I said to my mum, 'I see Ronaldinho.' And she was like, 'You know that he held you as a baby when he played for PSG with your uncle?’’ Iwobi told Sun Sport.

“She even showed me a picture.”

Okocha played at Paris Saint-Germain for four years, during which he spent the final season with the Brazilian playmaker, and it was claimed that the Nigerian taught the young Dinho skills.

Iwobi sets AFCON target

Iwobi was part of Nigeria's squad that finished third and second at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt 2019 and Ivory Coast 2023, respectively.

The Fulham star claims he wants to help Nigeria win the next edition in Morocco and have something to brag about against his uncle Okocha, who won the 1994 edition.

“Of course, he can't be the only one having bragging rights. I need to have one up against him. So hopefully, at Afcon, I can have the opportunity to do so,” he said.

“We want to improve and do better than last time. The only way to do that is to win it.”

Okocha praises Iwobi’s form last season

Legit.ng previously reported that Okocha praised Iwobi's form for Fulham last season, during which he helped the club finish 11th on the Premier League table.

The Super Eagles attacker, under Marco Silva, was one of the best creators in the league, standing on the table alongside Kevin De Bruyne, Cole Palmer and others.

Source: Legit.ng