Akpom to Ajax

[Berwickhillbilly]

Players pass medicals while injured all the time.

Yes, like Ameobi

 

[ThatFragranceGuy]

Doubt he was ever injured, club will not have wanted to jeopardise a sale and player won't want to risk their move.

 

[18MFC76]

Good luck Chuba, I think we’ve done very well out of this in truth. Last season, when you consider his previous record, was a freak season and there’s absolutely no guarantee he’ll go on to repeat it, so to make a healthy profit on him is good work from us

He showed last season he's top class so have every confidence in him that he will carry on his great form in the Dutch league. We've lost a Championship player of the season who scored 29 goals in a season. More than any other Boro striker since god knows when. Based on these facts, £12.7 million including add ons isn't enough for me. It should have been £15 million minimum.

 

[TeaCider]

Slovan Bratislava are out of the Champions League qualifiers after being absolutely hammered by Maccabi Haifa.

 

[Frozen Horse]

I see Servette are 1-0 up vs Rangers, 2-2 on aggregate but the Swiss now have home advantage.

 

[northriding]

He showed last season he's top class so have every confidence in him that he will carry on his great form in the Dutch league. We've lost a Championship player of the season who scored 29 goals in a season. More than any other Boro striker since god knows when. Based on these facts, £12.7 million including add ons isn't enough for me. It should have been £15 million minimum.

We're paying the price for making a mess of two thirds of his time here.

I agree, the fee is on the low side, but we can only hope it serves as a lesson that players need to be utilized properly.

 

[festa5]

We're paying the price for making a mess of two thirds of his time here.

I agree, the fee is on the low side, but we can only hope it serves as a lesson that players need to be utilized properly.

Underlines the importance of having the manager (or head coach or whatever) on the same page as the recruitment team/head of football etc.

It was always stupid giving Warnock another year when it was blindingly obvious he was completely at odds with the direction we wanted to go in.

Wilder wasn't much better (although I suspect Wilder was initially less open about not really being on board with it at first).

 

[Laughing]

I wouldn't have took the risk in October/November last year and I was one of his biggest fans at that point, judging by this board. The consensus was that he was playing well - but it probably wouldn't last and we still needed someone better in January. There wasn't one person saying we need to extend his contract until around Feb/March time when it became clear that this wasn't just a purple patch.

From the club's perspective, they wanted to know he could deliver consistent performances on the pitch. How he was performing in training was irrelevant, really - Akpom has always been good in training, by all accounts. A lot of players are good trainers but can't perform when it matters - and that had been him up until that stage. They simply didn't know whether he could do it consistently in the first team. And understanding whether he can be consistent was always going to take time. That's why you have to look at his performances in previous seasons, which indicates that this could either be a run of good form and he'll regress to the mean, or it could have finally clicked for him. You're not going to know which until further into the season or, possibly, even beyond then.

While a 2 year extension at £35k sounds good, you're not taking into account the fact that Akpom may not have wanted only a 1 or 2 year extension. He's coming up to his 28th birthday, if he signs a 2 year extension then he's 30 when it expires and he may have missed his best chance to get a big contract elsewhere. If he wanted a 4 year extension - minimum - at £35k per week - would you agree to it in October or November last year? That's signing off on £7 million for a player who has never scored double figures, has just been injured for over a month (and had niggles during his last loan spell), and has only scored 15 goals in the last three years.

I do understand where you're coming from, and it looks like a no-brainer now, but it would have been a huge risk in November 2022.

People would have been up in arms had we given that useless lump a contract extension towards the beginning of last season.

It's a case of 20/20 hindsight. I am with you on this.

 

[Redwurzel]

I know posters were still negative about him when he missed his penalty at Burnley just before Christmas.

I would say it was Boxing Day/New Years Day period before he won a lot of the fans over.

He looked a different player to me @ QPR in August. We were 3-1 down at half time and he came on and we were a different team in the second half and should have got a draw out of that game. Unfortunately he got injured soon after and didn't start again until early November.

 

[Cogeur_le_Conq]

I'm really chuffed for Choobs:

FORMER ARSENAL MAN IS BECOMING A ‘VERY SPECIAL STRIKER’ WITH 8 GOALS IN 10 GAMES

Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

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FORMER ARSENAL MAN IS BECOMING A ‘VERY SPECIAL STRIKER’ WITH 8 GOALS IN 10 GAMES​

Dan Owen
Tue 19 December 2023 11:00, UK
Former Arsenal and Premier League youngster Chuba Akpom is proving himself to be a ‘very special’ striker since leaving Middlesbrough for Ajax over the summer.
With eight goals in his last ten games, the London-born forward is certainly putting a slow start to life at Ajax behind him. Chuba Akpom has been a revelation since John van’t Schip took over at the Johan Cruyff Arena, the Dutch giants dismissing those – at one point very real – relegation fears and climbing up towards the European positions.

Akpom hit a brace as Ajax defeated AEK Athens 3-1 on Thursday night, ensuring that they will be playing continental football after Christmas at the expense of their visitors from Greece.
And Wim Kieft, a three-time Eredivisie winner with Ajax, cannot speak highly enough of a man living up to his £12 million price-tag.

Photo by Jeroen van den Berg/Soccrates/Getty Images

Former Arsenal striker in superb form​

“He remains a very special striker and it is nice to have someone like that behind you,” Kieft tells De Telegraaf. “If there is something wrong with Brian Brobbey or another attacker, you can bring Akpom in straight away.
“He also provides competition in the attack at Ajax. If someone loses form or fails, coach John van ‘t Schip can always count on Akpom.”
Akpom started his career at Arsenal but made only four Premier League appearances before leaving the Gunners in 2018. It was at Middlesbrough under Michael Carrick where the late-blooming forward finally started to cut loose to live up to his potential, however, finishing the 2022/23 season with 29 goals and the Championship’s Golden Boot award sitting on his mantelpiece.

Championship Golden Boot winne​

“The times he came on, Akpom played as number ten behind (striker Brian) Brobbey, which went well,” three-time Ballon D’Or winner and Ajax legend Marco van Basten smiles.
“I think Brobbey could also use that, an attacker he can play alongside. Brobbey is often alone (up front by himself).”