Alex Iwobi has caught up with Mohamed Salah. The Fulham midfielder made his 328th Premier League appearance in Saturday’s 1-0 home win over Coventry City, and only one African player has now played more games in the league.
Oscar Bobb scored the only goal ten minutes from time. Iwobi started the game and played 73 minutes before he was taken off.
Where Iwobi stands on the list
Kolo Toure holds the record for an African player with 353 Premier League games. He played most of his career at Arsenal, then moved on to Manchester City and Liverpool. Iwobi and Salah now share second place on 328. Jordan Ayew and Wilfried Zaha are next with 305 each, and Shola Ameobi has 298.
Of the players near the top, Iwobi is the one still adding games every week. He is 30, and he needs 25 more appearances to draw level with Toure. If he plays every league match, he could get there before the end of the season.
Salah has spent more time on the pitch, though. He has 26,785 Premier League minutes, while Iwobi has 22,898.
Eleven years in the league
Iwobi made his first Premier League appearance as a substitute for Arsenal on 31 October 2015, in a 3-0 win at Swansea. He moved to Everton in 2019 and joined Fulham in September 2023.
He already holds the Nigerian record for Premier League appearances. He passed Ameobi’s 298 games earlier this season and keeps moving further ahead.
The Nigeria Football Federation was quick to react. “The NFF celebrates Alex Iwobi for this new achievement and we wish him even greater glory,” acting general secretary Emmanuel Ikpeme said in a statement. He added that the federation would be “very happy” to see Iwobi become the African with the most Premier League appearances.
Next stop, Villa Park
Fulham’s next league game is away at Aston Villa. If Iwobi plays, he moves clear of Salah and into second place on his own.
Our take
Iwobi rarely gets the headlines that Salah gets, and that is fair when you look at goals and trophies. But playing 328 games in this league takes something too. Managers at three different clubs have kept picking him for more than ten years.
Being picked that often for so long says a lot about how coaches see him. Players like that are easy to overlook until they are missing.
Toure’s record looks within reach. Staying fit for one more season is the hard part.
Do you think Iwobi will pass Kolo Toure’s 353 games? Tell us in the comments.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Alex Iwobi at Fulham by Timmy96 (CC0), Alex Iwobi at Arsenal by joshjdss (CC BY 2.0), Mohamed Salah by Bryan Berlin (CC BY-SA 4.0), Craven Cottage by Robert Eva (CC BY-SA 2.0).