Crystal Palace academy director Gary Issott has confirmed that the club were interested in signing Alex Iwobi before the Nigeria international was offered a scholarship by Arsenal.
The Super Eagles star recently stated that he almost left the Gunners and also mentioned that Southampton and Celtic had explored the possibility of signing him.
''He came to the training ground. [The then director of the Arsenal youth academy] Liam Brady had said he was free to go and speak to other clubs,'' Issott said to Football.London.
''It was in 2011 on a Sunday morning. We had him in and he was looking around, and as he said, I think there was interest from Southampton and Celtic too.
''We made him an offer, but he decided to stay at Arsenal and it is interesting to see how he has got on since then.
''He was an U16 player at the time, but it just shows how well he has done.
''He has gone from not being at the top end of the group to becoming an established player at first team level at Arsenal.''
Iwobi penned a contract extension with Arsenal before the start of this season and has made 117 appearances in all competitions since his debut in 2015, scoring 10 goals.
Igho Kingsley
Photo Credit : arsenal.com
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