Jay-Jay Okocha, one of Nigeria’s greatest players and uncle of Alex Iwobi, says his nephew should stay and fight for his place at Arsenal having fallen out of favour a bit in recent weeks.

The 20 year old has made 36 appearances for the Gunners this season, but hasn’t started a game since the 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on March 4th.

It feels like Arsene Wenger has taken him out of the firing line a bit, and he even played with the U23s in recent weeks.

Speaking to Sky Sports though, Okocha says a little understanding is required.

“We can’t forget that this is his first full season in the first team and Arsenal have all their players back now. There’s a lot of competition, so it’s not easy,” he said.

“He has had a good season. It’s not easy to make it through from the academy into the first team at such a big club. He has achieved this and has been phenomenal.

“I am delighted with what he has achieved so far.”

And on his future, he continued, “I think it’s better for him to stay at Arsenal, because the style of play suits him perfectly. It might not be easy for him to go on loan and adapt somewhere else. He needs to stay and fight for his shirt.”

There hasn’t really even been any talk of going out on loan. In reality, what we have is a relatively inexperienced player hitting a plateau in his development while part of an underperforming team.

Iwobi has shown some really exciting stuff, but a bit like Hector Bellerin is being overly-criticised when his form has dipped.

He’ll come back.