Akpom must consider loan move away!
Whilst there have been a few developments on the incoming front these last few days, with Perez officially announced today and Mustafi surely soon to follow, there has also been no shortage of players linked with a move away from the club.
Joel Campbell left the club on loan for Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon last week and he made his debut this weekend, whilst Calum Chambers has also reportedly agreed terms with Premier League newcomers Middlesborough. There has also been rumours about Wilshere and Gnabry, both of whom are supposedly under pressure to complete moves away before deadline day, with Wilshere made available for loan, whilst Gnabry may be off to Werder Bremen in a permanent transfer. Whilst all these deals reportedly have progress currently underway, one player who is apparently still waiting on a move is Arsenal youth striker Chuba Akpom.
I say youth striker because Akpom is still only 20 years old, however he has been amongst the first team squad for pre-season for a number of years now, yet is still unable to mark his presence in a competitive game. Akpom is no stranger to going out on loan from Arsenal, having previously spent time away from the Emirates with Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest and Hull City. However he has only managed to find the back of the net on three occasions in the domestic leagues, all of which came when he was on loan at Hull last season.
With an opportunity unlikely to arise at Arsenal no matter how desperate we are in attack, Akpom seems to be considering whether he should go out on loan again this season, rather than be stuck in the Arsenal reserve squads playing under 21 football.
When considering if he’d prefer a move, Akpom said: “I think that obviously reserve football and first team football is a big difference.The Championship is tough, playing games week in week out and experiencing it is a good experience. I think that any player, if you go out on loan and get as many games as possible you’re going to come back experienced and I think I have.”
Now Akpom may feel that he is more experienced as a result of his loan spells away from North London, but three goals in 56 domestic league appearances over the course of 3 years is not promising at all and he definitely needs to improve if he desires to lead Arsenal’s front line one day. Akpom of course had a good pre-season with Arsenal and it looked like he may have even been in with a shot of starting the Liverpool game, but Wenger like many, deemed the English forward wasn’t ready for such a task.
Spending time out on loan with a competitive side in the Championship is surely much more beneficial than being stuck in the youth ranks at Arsenal. Different experiences on loan as a player allow the players to mature, develop and grow into more talented players with different styles of play, rather than being stuck playing in an arguably uncompetitive under 21 league. A move for Akpom would be the best option for the player and Arsenal, however he still awaits on an offer before the deadline closes tomorrow.
By AH