Alex Iwobi Joins Up With Everton With A £35M Signing

Everton completed the late transfer of Alex Iwobi from Arsenal more than two hours after the transfer window closed on Thursday night having refused to meet Crystal Palace’s £100m valuation of Wilfried Zaha. Iwobi is Everton’s seventh summer arrival and has signed a five-year contract with the Goodison Park club, with the fee for the Nigeria international which could reach £35m ensuring the Premier League set a new spending record of more than £1.4bn.

The Everton manager Marco Silva said: “Alex was one of our main targets for this window and I believe he is a fantastic signing for Everton. He is a direct and skilful winger and attacking midfielder who always works very hard for his team.

“Alex fits exactly the profile of player I want in my model. He is hungry to join Everton and take the next step in his career, to help us compete with the strongest teams in the league and reach his potential at our club.”

Everton switched their sights to Iwobi late in the transfer window having been frustrated in their long-running attempt to seal a club record deal for Zaha. Silva was determined to inject more pace into his attack this summer but Everton and Palace were poles apart in their valuation of the Ivory Coast forward.