England in mourning as Arsenal's Lwobi chooses to play for Nigeria

Arrived Safely In Abuja✌🏽️🇳🇬

— Alexander Iwobi (@alexiwobi) March 20, 2016

Arsenal's Alex Lwobi is in Nigeria. England cannot believe it.

If he plays a full international this weekend, it will mean that Iwobi who was born in Lagos and has recently been the subject of an international tug-of-war between England and Nigeria, will have settled the issue in favour of the African giants

Chances of Alex Iwobi changing his mind & playing for England?? Zero. He's in Nigeria ready to play for Nigeria. https://t.co/aTYqhjANMj

— John Bennett (@JohnBennettBBC) March 21, 2016

He gained caps for England's Under-16, 17 and 18 teams and played as a substitute in a 2–0 friendly defeat to DR Congo.

He is a nephew of former Super Eagles captain Jay Jay Okocha, has played a friendly match, but will not be officially tied to Nigeria until he plays in a competitive game.

Happy To Announce That I Have Signed A New Contract With @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/o0pIgzlnAW

— Alexander Iwobi (@alexiwobi) October 6, 2015

Nigeria take on Egypt twice in four crucial days in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers starting Friday.

A glimpse of Iwobi's obvious talents were first seen during pre-season, when Arsene Wenger's included him at the last minute to a touring squad to Singapore. He then netted against Lyon in the Emirate's Cup in August.

Early this year, Wenger had said: “I have a hesitation about loaning him because I think this guy could very quickly play.” 

“It’s the first season he trains with the top team and I think it would help him a lot to  see the quality of the players around him. He can play on the left, on the right, behind the striker, even No9. He scores goals in training. He’s one who, when he was a kid, could pass you by if you don’t watch well in training but I personally like his game.”