Arsenal’s Chuba Akpom is set to follow in the footsteps of Isaac Hayden and join Hull City on a season-long loan, according to the BBC.
The move would come as a surprise, considering that Arsene Wenger had previously stated that the England u20 international would remain at the club this season. When Arsenal were in Singapore, Wenger was asked whether he would be loaned out and he responded by saying: “No. I sent him out on loan last year because I thought he needed that.
“This pre-season, during the season I plan to keep him with us.”
In fact, just earlier this week, Chuba Akpom himself had expressed the desire to stay at the club and fight for his place: “I’d prefer to stay here and fight for a place and give it my all and compete with the other strikers,” he said. “There is a lot of talent in the team but I think I am capable of competing and getting a place in the team, it’s all down to hard work.”
The move hardly comes as a surprise though. Realistically, it was never expected that he could have cemented a place in the starting XI ahead of Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck. Moreover, Arsene Wenger had spoken about plans to play Theo Walcott, who just extended his stay at the club, as a striker which will leave Chuba Akpom even lower down in the pecking order.
Dt Hull City, it will be an uphill battle for Chuba Akpom – the Championship club have no shortage of forwards with Nikica Jelavić, Abel Hernández, Dame N’Doye, and Sone Aluko all capable of playing up front. It raises the question as to whether Hull City is the right choice for the 19-year-old, but with a month left in the transfer window many things can still change.
If Akpom is to have a future at a club of Arsenal’s stature then he must show that he is capable of displacing the quality of strikers that Hull City possess.
