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Liverpool Echo

Sport

Adam Jones

Alex Iwobi addresses Everton fan favourite tag and drops new contract hint

Everton Alex Iwobi Frank Lampard AFCON (Organization)

Alex Iwobi has admitted he now feels part of the Everton family and believes it would be weird if his time at the club were to ever come to an end.

The midfielder has been one of the Blues' top performers for months now, especially at the beginning of the 2022/23 campaign playing in a new central midfield role. Ever since the appointment of Frank Lampard as manager, the Nigeria international has unlocked a new dimension to his game and showed himself to be one of the hardest workers at the club.

The 26-year-old is quite sure that he can be described as a "fan favourite", but he knows that supporters give him the confidence to feel unstoppable on the football pitch. He still has two years left on his current deal with the club, and he admitted it would be strange if he were to come to an end of his time at Goodison Park.

He told evertontv : "It's nice to get acknowledged by the fans, but I just try to stay level-headed. Don't go too high, don't go too low, have a balance.

"Being a fan favourite...I'm not too sure, there's a lot of fan favourites at the club! But it does give me that confidence going onto the pitch.

"You almost feel unstoppable, almost like you can do anything on the pitch. Obviously the place that I'm in right now, I like to play forward and create chances - even if the chances don't come off, the fans will still acknowledge that you're trying.

"It's a nice place to be in, every player wants that confidence to feel like they're unbeatable and here's nothing wrong they can do. I feel like it's the best time and my most confident time at Everton, but I've got a long time to go - I've still got two years, if anything happens from then.

"I feel like I'm part of the Everton family. I've not got the scouse accent yet, which I'll never get! But I feel like I'm one of them.

"It'll be weird if I ever come to an end of Everton, but I feel like I'll always be a part of it one way or another so it's nice to be here."

It unfortunately hasn't always been plain sailing for Iwobi during his time on Merseyside, since arriving at the club from Arsenal in the summer of 2019. Multiple managers have only used him sporadically, with his form not being consistent enough to give him a solid run of matches.

However, the 26-year-old knows he has learned a lot from those periods in his career - which came before he even joined the Blues too. And, he knows how to deal with any more of those spells whenever they might come up in the future.

"Yeah, I've had spells where I've played one or two good games. But on a consistent basis I think this is my best moment," he added.

"But it's definitely been my most enjoyable time. In football you're not always going to have highs, I've always had low points before I even came to Everton.

"I've always been able to overcome it, what's good for me is always to have a good support system around me. Whether it's my family, friends or people at Everton who are always there to talk to you and help you through difficult situations.

"If you don't go though losses, you won't learn. Going through those rough patches made me stronger mentally and always made me feel like I want to prove someone wrong - I'm going to overcome the obstacles.

"I never had that mindset that it wasn't going to work. I always had the mindset that I could overcome this and prove people wrong.

"When the opportunity came with the new manager, I used it as a new chapter in my life. Forget the past, whatever happened, and go again. It's a new challenge.

"It's worked out alright so far, I can't complain!

"What I realised here is that fans just appreciate 100%. As long as you show that, you can do anything. There's a reason you're here at Everton with your ability, as long as you show 100% you'll be alright."

Lampard has certainly managed to get the best out of Iwobi despite using him in multiple different positions in the side. The midfielder talked about his immediate message from the new manager after his return from the Africa Cup Of Nations earlier in the year, and also praised the rest of the club's staff for helping to create the right atmosphere at Finch Farm.

The Nigeria international remarked: "He got appointed while I was at AFCON, so when I got back I feel like he didn't really know what to expect from me especially from what he'd seen under other managers, and after the red card at AFCON.

"But coming back he said he was a bit surprised at how I train, I'm decent in training and always give 100%, it's just about getting that out in matches. He told me to play the way I train and express myself, so he gave me that confidence.

"Ever since then it's been working out in different positions, I can't say where my best position is! But he's trialled me in different positions and it's worked out.

"They're [the staff] easy to talk to. Ashley Cole, Paul Clement, Joe Edwards - they're all good not just to me but everyone. They make it feel like it's one big family, it's a nice feeling."

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