Iwobi to battle with stars for top award

The Arsenal academy graduate was rewarded with a new contract earlier this season and he rewarded his manager’s faith in him with brilliant performances this season. The Nigerian was in brilliant in Arsenal’s last three games setting up assists in those games and his form has earned him a nomination for Arsenal’s player of the month.

The 22-year-old – who started the month 20 days late after illness saw him missed games against Cardiff and Newcastle United – returned in their Europa League clash against Vorskla and impressed, laying the curtain raiser to Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang in the 4-2 victory.

The Nigeria international then played for 27 minutes in the Gunners’ victory over Everton in the Premier League before coming off the bench to steer them to a 2-0 win over Watford on Saturday.
Arsenal’s Petr Cech, summer recruit Lucas Torreira, Alexandre Lacazette are the players gunning for the award with Iwobi.

Meanwhile, Henrik Mkhitaryan will not be part of the Arsenal Squad that will travel to Azerbaijan to take on Qarabag in their Europa League tie. The Armenia International has found first-team opportunities to come by this season with Emery preferring Ramsey and Alex Iwobi over him.

Nevertheless, it has been revealed the reason for Mkhitaryan not traveling with the squad is not because of football reason but rather for a ridiculous reason. There are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan because of a longstanding conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Speaking ahead of the match, Arsenal Manager Unia emery said the Armenia international will not be part of the squad but they have the squad to see the game through.
“He cannot travel here,” said Arsenal boss Unai Emery. “We are here, the players with the best mentality and preparation and possibility to play.”

UEFA also said in a statement it was a mutual decision between Mkhitaryan and Arsenal. While playing for Borussia Dortmund in 2015, Mkhitaryan did not travel for a Europa League tie against Azerbaijan Premier League side Qabala due to security concerns.
In a statement, Uefa said: “It is standard procedure for Uefa to send letters of support to associations, clubs or embassies in order to obtain a visa for players in order to be able to travel to another country and play in Uefa competition matches.”

Also with the Europa league final holding in Baku next year, Arsenal Emery was asked if Mkhitaryan will be part of the squad should the gunners go that far the Former Sevilla man said when they reach that bridge they will cross it. “It’s a long time for us to arrive at the final.”We are working to prepare for the next matches.” Emery said.

He also added he doesn’t have anything to say on the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan saying he’s just a manager. When asked about the dispute between the two nations, Emery said: “My work is football. “I respect each culture and I respect each country, but I don’t know each situation in every country. For me, he cannot play.

Meanwhile, Qarabag manager said he is disappointed Mkhitaryan will not be part of Arsenal’s traveling party even though his safety has been guaranteed. He added Arsenal are trying to prevent Mkhitaryan from the hostile reception he will get from Qarabag fans. “I didn’t want politics to interrupt the sport but we could not do anything on this issue,” he said.

“If Henrikh Mkhitaryan would come to Azerbaijan it is not the first time – a lot of Armenian sportsmen came to Azerbaijan but it is the choice of Arsenal that they didn’t send him.
“Arsenal may be afraid that in front of 60,000 Azerbaijani fans, Mkhitaryan has some pressure and that is why they didn’t send Mkhitaryan.”