Alex Iwobi has sent a message to Nigerian teammate Victor Moses, after the Chelsea winger announced his retirement from international football this week.

Moses’ decision to leave his national team was a bit of surprising one, given the circumstances. He’s still only 27 years old, meaning he’d only be 31 when the next World Cup comes around, let alone the two sets of African Cup of Nations tournaments before then.

Iwobi focused on everything Moses had already given his country in his farewell message on Twitter.

“Thank you for paving the way for us,” Iwobi wrote. “You achieved so much for our country. It was a pleasure to play with you, wishing you the best big bro.”

Moses explained that he was leaving the national team in part to allow the next generation of “Super Eagle stars” the chance to step up and succeed. That presumably includes players like Iwobi, who is still just 22 years old, despite entering his fourth full season with Arsenal.

It’s certainly an opportunity for Iwobi to step up into a more prominent role in the team. Having signed a new contract with Arsenal recently, he has some stability in his club situation, which should help him as well.

Now it’s just about pushing on under Unai Emery, and maximising his individual strengths. We’ll have to see how that goes over the course of the season.