Arsene Wenger said Alex Iwobi wasn’t as ‘flashy’ as other former Hale End star – but his Arsenal career vanished

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Arsene Wenger unearthed some gems at Arsenal, including Premier League ace Alex Iwobi, who departed in 2019.

A product of the Hale End academy, Iwobi burst onto the scene in the 2015/16 campaign, scoring on his full Premier League debut. 

The Nigerian made 149 senior appearances for his boyhood club before leaving Arsenal for good in 2019 to join Everton. 

For the entirety of his career, Iwobi has remained in the Premier League, now representing Fulham alongside a handful of other former Arsenal stars.

• READ MORE: Every ex-Arsenal player currently at Fulham including Emile Smith Rowe and three others

Arsene Wenger reserved high praise for Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Alex Iwobi

Iwobi is starring at Fulham alongside Emile Smith Rowe, finding a place to call home working under Marco Silva. 

The Nigeria international was one of the final academy jewels that Wenger promoted to the first team and one of few who made it during his era at Hale End.

One player who was also highly rated at the time of Iwobi’s rise was fellow attacker Jeff Reine-Adelaide, who starred alongside the academy product in the 2015 Emirates Cup. 

• READ MORE: Where are they now: Arsenal’s pre-season stars from Sanogo to Frimpong

In a memorable match against Lyon that saw Arsenal win 6-0, Iwobi scored and Reine-Adelaide was also a protagonist, earning high praise from Wenger.

“Reine-Adelaide is something special you know,” Wenger told Arsenal’s official website at the time. 

“He is a great talent and when he came on you could see that – 17 years old let’s not forget that. In fact I don’t remember how I played at 17 but I didn’t play like that!”

The Arsenal legend then went on to speak of Iwobi, whom he also praised but admitted was not as ‘flashy’ as Reine-Adelaide. 

“I like Alex Iwobi. Good attitude, efficient player. Maybe not so flashy but he understands the game. He is very efficient and works for the team.”

The teenager was all the rage following the 2015 Emirates Cup, with plenty of Arsenal fans tracking his progress but, the Frenchman failed to ever make a Premier League appearance for the Gunners. 

What is Jeff Reine-Adelaide doing now?

Unlike Iwobi, who is a Premier League regular with 281 appearances under his belt, Reine-Adelaide never broke through in the English top flight.

The Frenchman left Arsenal in 2018 to join Angers, with the 27-year-old going on to have a career more underwhelming than Wenger would’ve perhaps anticipated.

Since his Arsenal departure, Reine-Adelaide has represented French clubs Angers, Lyon, Nice and Troyes, then moving on to Belgium with RWD Molenbeek. 

Now, the former Hale End talent plays for Salernitana in the second tier of Italian football, signing in the summer in a bid to find some form.

Various injuries and lack of opportunity cost Reine-Adelaide what could’ve been a star-studded career, in what was quite a slip for the highly-rated Frenchman.