Six Super Eagles players featured on the final day of the 2025-26 Premier League season, with Fulham’s Nigerian trio of Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze providing the standout collective performance in a 2-0 home win over Newcastle United at Craven Cottage.
Elsewhere, Tolu Arokodare was involved as Wolves played out a dead rubber against fellow-relegated Burnley, Taiwo Awoniyi featured for Nottingham Forest against a Bournemouth side chasing Champions League football, and Christantus Uche was part of the Crystal Palace squad that hosted Arsenal’s title celebration at Selhurst Park, as reported by FootballInNigeria.com.ng. The day marked a neat curtain-call on a season that saw Nigeria’s Premier League contingent grow in experience and, for some, in influence.
Fulham 2-0 Newcastle United: Iwobi, Bassey and Chukwueze
Craven Cottage provided one of the more satisfying final-day outcomes for Nigerian supporters. Iwobi started in midfield and completed the full 90 minutes, pulling the strings through the centre of the park as Fulham controlled a fixture that carried no real pressure but allowed players to perform freely. Bassey was equally composed at centre back, marshalling Newcastle’s attack with the quiet authority that earned him the club’s Player of the Season award in the previous campaign.
Issa Diop opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a header from a corner, giving the hosts an early lead they never looked like surrendering. Newcastle had very little going forward, generating only two shots on target across the entire 90 minutes, a reflection of how controlled Bassey and his defensive partners were. Tom Cairney wrapped up the win late on with a trademark left footed finish from the edge of the box, assisted by Antonee Robinson following a counter attack. Chukwueze came on as a substitute in the second half to add his presence to a comfortable afternoon at the Cottage.
The 2-0 win gave Fulham a final-day confidence boost after three matches without a win heading into the game. Iwobi ended the 2025-26 Premier League season with four goals and three assists across 28 appearances, his most productive tally in a single top flight campaign. Super Eagles fans backing the Fulham trio can explore Bet9ja’s YOHAIG code ahead of the new campaign in August.
Crystal Palace 0-2 Arsenal: Uche Plays His Part in Farewell to Champions
Selhurst Park was the stage for Arsenal’s title lifting celebration on the final day, with Mikel Arteta’s champions arriving to collect their trophy after already securing the 2025-26 Premier League title. Christantus Uche was involved for Crystal Palace, the young Super Eagles striker who has spent most of his debut Premier League season on the fringes, collecting limited cameos as one of the club’s most exciting young attacking options.
Arsenal ran out 2-0 winners in front of a packed Selhurst Park, with the result ultimately inconsequential for either side but providing a fitting backdrop for the champions’ trophy ceremony. For the 22 year old Uche, who was born in Enugu and made his senior Premier League bow this season, simply being part of the occasion against the league’s outstanding side was itself a marker of how far he has come. His task in the summer is to build on that platform and force his way into more regular consideration under Crystal Palace’s manager heading into 2026-27.
Wolves 1-1 Burnley: Arokodare’s Final Top-Flight Outing
The match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley was always going to be the most subdued fixture of the day, with both sides already condemned to relegation before a ball was kicked. Tolu Arokodare featured for Wolves in what was almost certainly his final Premier League appearance in the immediate term, with the club heading down to the Championship after a season that saw them claim the record for the longest winless run in the division’s history.
The match ended 1-1, a result that summed up a frustrating campaign for Arokodare, who arrived at Wolves in January 2025 with high expectations but found goals hard to come by in one of the most troubled squads in the top flight. He heads into the summer with his immediate Premier League future unclear, as Wolves will likely conduct a major squad overhaul before attempting an immediate return. New Bet9ja users who want to follow Arokodare’s next move can access Bet9ja’s welcome registration offer before the summer window opens.
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Bournemouth: Awoniyi’s Season Ends in Defeat
Nottingham Forest’s safety had been confirmed before the final day but there was genuine significance in the Bournemouth fixture, with Andoni Iraola’s side needing a positive result to finalise their Champions League qualification in what turned out to be the Spanish manager’s farewell appearance on the touchline at the City Ground. Bournemouth secured the win they needed with a 1-0 victory, ending their season on a high and at the expense of Forest.
Taiwo Awoniyi featured for Forest as the home side were unable to find a leveller. It was a bittersweet conclusion to a mixed season for the Super Eagles striker, who has shown quality in spells but was restricted by injuries at key moments across the campaign. Forest finish the season in the bottom half of the table, a result that will prompt the club’s hierarchy to reassess their ambitions heading into next term. Both Awoniyi and Forest will be looking for a more consistent 2026-27.
Fans following all six of Nigeria’s Premier League players into the new season can find the best available offer at Bet9ja’s free bet offer page ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
Six Players, One Season: What It Meant for Nigeria
Taken together, the picture of Nigeria’s Premier League presence in 2025-26 is one of established quality at Fulham Iwobi, Bassey and Chukwueze all delivered at different points contrasted with more difficult individual narratives at Wolves and Forest, where Arokodare and Awoniyi both had campaigns disrupted by team context and injury. Uche’s emergence at Crystal Palace as a player to watch is the encouraging subplot that gives Nigerian fans genuine optimism for what comes next.
With the summer transfer window opening in mid-June, several of these players face decisions about their futures. Arokodare’s situation at a relegated Wolves is the most pressing, while Awoniyi’s contract situation at Forest will also attract scrutiny after a difficult season. Iwobi, Bassey and Chukwueze at Fulham represent a stable and genuinely productive Nigerian presence in the top flight that the national team will be hoping to build on as Eric Chelle’s rebuild gathers momentum ahead of the 2027 AFCON qualifying campaign.
📌 Did You Know?
- Arsenal’s title victory in 2025-26 was the club’s 15th English league championship overall and their second in three seasons, with Mikel Arteta becoming the first Arsenal manager to win multiple Premier League titles since the legendary Arsene Wenger era.
- Christantus Uche, born May 19, 2003 in Enugu, Nigeria, became one of the youngest Nigerian players to appear in the Premier League when he made his top flight debut for Crystal Palace this season. He is both footed, a rare quality among forwards at any level.
- Wolverhampton Wanderers’ relegation in 2025-26 ended an eight year unbroken stay in the Premier League that had begun with their promotion from the Championship in 2018. Their 19-match winless run set a new record for the longest such sequence in Premier League history.
- Tom Cairney, who scored Fulham’s second goal against Newcastle on the final day, is the club’s longest-serving player, having joined in 2015. The Scottish international has now made over 300 appearances for the club and is one of the most decorated midfielders in Fulham’s modern history.
- Andoni Iraola, whose Bournemouth side beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 on the final day to seal Champions League football, had been linked throughout the second half of the season with a move to Crystal Palace following Oliver Glasner’s departure. The 1-0 win was a fitting farewell performance from a manager who transformed Bournemouth into a top four contender.
- Alex Iwobi’s four Premier League goals in 2025-26 matched his personal best for goals in a single top-flight season, a tally he had previously reached during his time at Everton. His ability to contribute both defensively and in the final third makes him one of the most complete Nigerian midfielders currently playing in England.
- Taiwo Awoniyi’s first professional contract was signed with Liverpool in 2015, though he never made a first team appearance for them, instead spending his development years on loan across Europe before breaking through at Union Berlin and eventually joining Nottingham Forest for a reported 17.5 million euros in 2022.