Nigeria midfielder Alex Iwobi has drawn level with Egypt’s Mohamed Salah as the African player with the second-most appearances in Premier League history, a mark that puts the Nigerian just 25 games short of holder Kolo Toure.
The 30-year-old made his 328th appearance in Fulham’s 1-0 victory at Coventry City on Saturday. Only former Ivory Coast defender Toure, who played 353 times for Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool, has made more appearances among African internationals.
Already Nigeria’s leading appearance-maker in the league, Iwobi needs another 26 games to take the African record outright.
His latest outing came a week before the 11th anniversary of his Premier League debut, when he came off the bench for Arsenal in a 3-0 victory at Swansea City on October 31 of 2015. He scored on his first league start the following March, helping Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park.
Everton became his next club in 2019, before he returned to London to join Fulham in September 2023, where he has since passed Shola Ameobi’s Nigerian appearance record of 298 games.
Iwobi’s landmark Premier League appearance was acknowledged by the NFF, with acting general secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme identifying Toure’s mark as the next target.
“The NFF celebrates Alex Iwobi for this new achievement and we wish him even greater glory,” Ikpeme said in a federation statement.
“We will be very happy to see him become the African with the most appearances in the Premier League in the near future.”
Oscar Bobb scored Fulham’s winner against Coventry, securing a second successive 1-0 league victory following last weekend’s win over Hull City, with Iwobi himself scoring the decisive goal in that game.
The appearance standings place Iwobi ahead of several of African football’s longest-serving Premier League players. Ghana’s Jordan Ayew and Ivory Coast’s Wilfried Zaha have 305 appearances each, while Ameobi’s 298 put the former Newcastle United and Crystal Palace forward sixth among African internationals.
Among Nigerians, Nwankwo Kanu finished with 273 appearances, followed by Yakubu Aiyegbeni with 252 and John Mikel Obi with 249. Defender Joseph Yobo played 228 times across spells with Everton and Norwich City.
Yobo’s contribution also included an endurance mark that no other Nigerian has hit. The former Super Eagles captain played every minute of all 38 Premier League matches for Everton during the 2006-07 season, completing 3,420 minutes as the club finished sixth. He started every game and was neither substituted nor sent off during the league campaign.
Iwobi also holds Nigeria’s Premier League assists record, having overtaken Kanu’s total of 29 in 2024. Yakubu remains Nigeria’s leading Premier League scorer, with 95 goals in 252 appearances. His goals came for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton and Blackburn Rovers.
Another Nigerian, Efan Ekoku, holds a place in the competition’s history becoming the first player to score four goals in a Premier League match when Norwich won 5-1 at Everton on September 25 of 1993.
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