The Arsenal loanee has failed to convince at Brighton after being linked with a move to Aston Villa.
Chuba Akpom hardly set the world alight with a season on loan at Steve Bruce’s Hull City in 2015/16. Despite the Tigers reaching the promised land of the Premier League, the Arsenal loanee’s tally of three goals in 36 league appearances hardly left a lasting impression.
Therefore the Birmingham Mail’s claims that Bruce was keen to re-sign him with Aston Villa in January came as something of a surprise.
Akpom had barely been handed an opportunity under Arsene Wenger in the first half of the season but he hardly seemed the ideal candidate to add an extra edge to Villa’s then-blunt attack.
And, perhaps predictably, the 21-year-old has been used sparingly on loan at Brighton and Hove Albion after joining the promotion chasers just a few days after the links with Villa emerged. Chris Hughton boasts one of the league’s strongest starting XIs and, as of yet, Akpom has barely had a sniff.
In fact, each of his six appearances have come off the bench, dropping from 27, 25 and 18 minutes in his first three games to nine, two and eight in the most recent.
There is little reason for Villa to suffer sleepless nights on the face of it though you wonder if Bruce perhaps regretted not pulling out all the stops in the midst of an injury crisis.
Jonathan Kodjia may have netted both goals in Saturday’s win against Sheffield Wednesday, Villa’s fourth in five games, but he is the only fit striker on the club’s books.
January signing Scott Hogan was restricted to just four appearances before the curse struck.
Akpom would have added depth to Villa’s front line, if not quality or prolific goal-scoring.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
