Super Eagles defender, Ola Aina included international teammate and childhood friend, Alex Iwobi in his dream premier league team as a nod of appreciation and respect for a lifelong bond that extends far beyond the pitch.
Growing up together in London, Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina shared countless memories, lived very close to each other, honed their skills side by side, and developed an unbreakable understanding of each other.
Speaking in a recent video on Aina’s YouTube channel, Iwobi shared how close the pair were growing up: “He has always been like a brother, we went to the same primary school and secondary school,” he revealed.
Aina when questioned on his dream premier league team in a recent interview with “Layo’s choice” displayed his love and admiration for Iwobi by including him in a team of legends and elite players to have graced the league. The Nottingham Forest right back selected Thibaut Courtois as his goalkeeper and chose a back line of himself, John Terry, David Luiz, and Luke Shaw.
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He included Iwobi in a three-man-midfield with Manchester City legend, Yaya Toure and current PFA best player in the EPL, Phil Foden. His frontline included Chelsea legend, Eden Hazard, and two others who featured alongside the Belgian during his time, Diego Costa, and Willian.
When further investigated on the one player he would choose to play with forever, Aina didn’t hesitate in selecting Iwobi, insisting that the Fulham midfielder is his “dawg”, and that he had known him since childhood.
Since growing up together, Aina and Iwobi have both gone on establish themselves through different routes. While Aina got into Chelsea’s Cobham academy before making moves to Hull City, Torino, Fulham, and now Nottingham Forest, Iwobi got into Arsenal’s Hale End academy before moving to Everton and now Fulham.
Both Aina and Iwobi are now important players for their respective teams. Aina has started every EPL game for Forest this season and no right back in the league has more goals than the two he has scored. Iwobi has also started every game and he leads every Fulham player in goal contributions in the league (8).
According to Transfermarkt, despite not playing in the same club side, Aina has played together with Iwobi in 43 matches, recording 23 wins, 8 draws and 12 losses. For context, the pair have only lost 27.9% of the games they have played together.
Nigerians will be hoping that the inseparable connection between the two players could prove useful in Nigeria’s bid to win the next AFCON and qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup which Iwobi himself confirmed “is the big dream for everyone.”
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