Akpom close to €3m Middlesbrough switch

By Nurudeen Obalola

Nigerian striker Chuba Akpom is on the verge of joining Middlesbrough, Naija Times reports.

The former Arsenal player is currently at Greek club PAOK Salonika, whom he joined from the Gunners in 2018 for €1 million. He won the Greek title with the club last season.

English Championship club Middlesbrough have made an offer of €3 million for Akpom, which PAOK have accepted, according to reports in Greece.

Akpom, 24, started out at Arsenal as a seven-year-old schoolboy in 2002 and got loaned out a number of times by the club. He was with the Arsenal U-18s until 2013 when he got promoted to the senior team.

His first loan experience was to Brentford in January 2014, followed by Coventry in the same year. The British-born Nigerian was shipped out to Nottingham Forest and Hull City on loan in 2015, before another loan spell at Brighton and Hove Albion in 2017.

Akpom’s first move out of England was on another loan to Belgian club Sint-Truiden in January 2018 before his permanent switch to PAOK in August of the same year.

Akpom has already played three times for the Greek champions this season, including twice in Champions League qualifying victories over Besiktas in August and Benfica on Wednesday. He made an assist in the win over Besiktas.

Overall, he has made 79 appearances for PAOK, scoring 18 goals and contributing nine assists.