Chesterfield Assistant Simon Webb has likened Arsenal loanee Tim Akinola to Chelsea star Ngolo Kante, in the way that he sweeps us to deal with opponents attacks.
The midfielder has made a quick impression after joining on loan from the north London outfit, and the links to Kante are huge praise for the youngster who is yet to make a senior appearance for the Gunners.
Despite finding himself named on the bench for a Europa League outing back in 2019, he is yet to feature for the senior side, but if he can prove to be half the player of Kante, it makes sense as to why we have been reluctant to allow him to leave on a permanent basis.
At Chesterfield, he is already beginning to make quite the impression however, as stated by the club’s assistant manager.
“He is fit, he breaks things up and I think he is going to be a great addition. He is athletic, I think he is maybe a bit of a throwback to midfielders… People talk about (N’Golo) Kante at Chelsea and what a career he has had through breaking play up,” Webb told the Derbyshire Times.
“What is good with Tim is that he doesn’t break it up and give it away. He makes sensible decisions and when you are thrown into a bit of a corner, like coming on against Oldham with not many minutes left and you are 2-0 up, it is important that you don’t do your own thing and I think he, Jez (Uchegbulam) and Michael (Gyasi) helped maintain a steadiness to the performance.”
Tim Akinola has shown plenty of promise over the years, but at 21 years-old you could be forgiven for believing that he could be sold in the near future. If he is sold, we should definitely be included a buyback clause, something we have failed to do on a number of occasions.
Patrick