For Alex Iwobi, the mantra of being more than a footballer is evident in his everyday life through his wide range of passions be it music or fashion or charity, yet above all it is his love for the game that rises above everything else.

When we speak, Iwobi is in the middle of his time off, which has involved plenty of travelling including walking with lions in Dubai and a trip to Paris Fashion Week and of course, the odd Powerleague session back at home in London.

‘I love playing fives with my boys. When you play with friends, it brings that element of when you were young and having all that fun with football back,’ Iwobi tells Mail Sport. ‘When I go back to my area, I play with my mates who I’ve known for years. They give me a fake name like John just so we can enjoy the football – other professional players go too but I’m not sure if they want me to say.

For the fourth summer in a row, the Fulham midfielder has combined football with his constant pursuit of giving back through the Project 17 Cup – which aims to inspire young players and raise awareness for a specific cause.

This year, the focus is on sickle cell disease in association with ACLT (African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust), a life-saving charity working to increase the number of black blood, stem cell and organ donors.

Alex Iwobi embraces  being more than just a footballer through his work with the Project 17 Cup

The Fulham star has enjoyed his off-season, while he also attended Paris Fashion Week

The Project 17 Cup aims to inspire young players and raise awareness for a specific cause – this year, the focus is on sickle cell disease in association with African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust

‘Me and my team decided to do it. We’re trying to raise as much awareness for people who have sickle cell and give back to ACLT,’ Iwobi says. ‘It’s something that we try to do – giving back to different charities every year. Sickle cell disease affected one of the people close to Project 17 so we decided to go with it,’ the 29-year-old adds.

When we last spoke in December, it was the week when Iwobi and Fulham drew with Liverpool at Anfield and the following day, he was back in London feeding 100 families for Christmas as part of Project 17 through an initiative called AleXpress.

‘With the position I am in, I feel like it’s only right with the influence I have that I give back as well,’ he told Mail Sport then.

Fulham were in the middle of an eight-game unbeaten run then and with genuine hopes of European football before they eventually finished 11th – a third mid-table finish in a row since getting promoted with Marco Silva in 2022. With 54 points last season, it was also the highest that Fulham have accumulated in the Premier League. For Iwobi, whose current deal runs till 2028, it is very much a case of feeling at home.

‘We’re not team-mates, we’re all like brothers because we do so much together,’ he says. ‘I’m very comfortable here and I want to achieve more, like getting Fulham into Europe.’

So what can we expect this season then?

‘More commitment, more desire, more vibes,’ he says, while sitting in his Odell Beckham jersey. ‘I put 100 percent in last season so this year will be 110 per cent.’

Before we finish, there is one more thing I have to ask about. Scroll down his Instagram and there is a video captioned ‘Evening Walks’ from earlier in the summer. Open it and it is Iwobi walking with a lion.

Iwobi said: ‘It’s something that we try to do – giving back to different charities every year’

Iwobi explained why he walked with Lions in Dubai – and says he ‘wasn’t scared’ to do so

He said he and his Fulham team ‘are not team-mates, we are like brothers’ with the news season starting soon

‘I was in Dubai with my friends and we just wanted to do activities. Someone recommended a zoo so we went and once the staff realised I was there, they got a bit more hospitable. Anyway, Ashton Hall was there walking the tiger so they asked me if I wanted to walk the lion. I actually wasn’t scared,’ Iwobi says. ‘But the only thing I’m scared of is heights.’

With Fulham wanting to scale new heights and Nigeria wanting to win the Africa Cup of Nations this winter, after coming runners-up in 2023, that’s a fear he’ll have to overcome.