#Sports: £35m Iwobi more expensive than Brighton squad

Everton midfielder, Alex Iwobi, cost £9m more than the entire Brighton starting XI that humbled the Toffees at Goodison Park on Tuesday night.

The Seagulls thrashed Frank Lampard’s side 4-1 to leave the Chelsea legend clinging onto his job on Merseyside with Toffees fans in open revolt.

It was a night to forget for Everton as they were crushed by Brighton, despite fielding players who cost more than the entire Brighton team combined.

Among the shoddy performers for Everton included Iwobi, who is currently negotiating over a new contract.

Those talks were opened following an upturn in form from the former Arsenal man, who starred with a number of impressive performances in central midfield, but now supporters are calling on the club to halt talks after his latest display.

In 2019, the Nigeria international made the switch to Goodison Park for a fee of £35m from the Gunners – which raised eyebrows at the time considering his lack of impact at the Emirates.

In comparison, the entire Brighton side that rocked up north to batter the Toffees 4-1 in their own backyard on Tuesday night cost a total of £26m.

Iwobi drums support for Lampard,
And of that total, a large chunk of that is taken up by summer signing Pervis Estupinan – who cost the south-coast side £15m from Villarreal and replaced Marc Cucurella, sold for £62m to Chelsea.

Brighton’s entire front four – Evan Ferguson, Solly March, Jeremy Sarmiento, Kaoru Mitoma – cost a total of £2.5m, with the former three all coming up through the academy.

Also in the side from the youth set-up is captain Lewis Dunk and goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, while defender Levi Colwill joined on loan from Chelsea in the summer.

Goalscorer Pascal Gross arrived from Ingolstadt for just £3m while Moises Caicedo – most recently linked with a £70m switch to Liverpool – joined for just £4.5m last year.

Iwobi is just one example, with his performance drawing criticism on social media from fans, especially with negotiations over an improved deal happening in the background.

He currently earns £70,000-a-week at Goodison Park, with his current deal running until 2024, but a new contract could see his wages increase to £100,000-a-week after an impressive start to the season which has since fizzled out.

Everton have now lost nine Premier League games out of 18 – winning just one in the last ten and find themselves firmly in a fight to survive relegation.