Former Arsenal striker Chuba Akpom is belatedly making his mark at Ajax with Dutch legend Marco van Basten impressed by the one-time Premier League starlets recent Eredivisie performances.
Only a few months into his Ajax career, the £12 million summer signing from Middlesbrough has a rather niche place in the Eredivisie history books. Chuba Akpom is the first player in the competition’s history ever to score in three successive games after coming off the bench.
And, when John van’t Schip’s improving side hosted hapless Vitesse Arnhem at the weekend, the one-time Arsenal starlet proved that he can be just as influential from the start. Akpom scored again, for the fourth league game in a row, with his emergence as a genuine difference-maker coinciding with Ajax’s sudden rise from 18th to eighth.
From Arsenal to Ajax
“(Akpom) is actually quite good,” former Netherlands international Youri Mulder tells Rondo.
“He is a real goalscorer. Akpom is just someone to cross to, he can head the ball really well. If you score so many goals in the Championship, then you also have to be able to score a lot at Ajax.”
Akpom arrived in Amsterdam with the Championship’s Golden Boot award in his suitcase, hitting the target 29 times for Middlesbrough in 2022/23.
Boro boss Michael Carrick coaxed a career-best campaign out of the nomadic frontman at the Riverside after turning Akpom from a number nine into something akin to a roving number ten. A positional change which has now been given the seal of approval from arguably Dutch football’s greatest ever export, the iconic Marco van Basten.
Chuiba Akpom makes his mark
“The times he came on, Akpom played as number ten behind (Brian) Brobbey, which went well,” the three-time Ballon D’Or winner argues.
“I think Brobbey could also use that, an attacking midfielder he can play with. Brobbey is often alone (up front by himself).”
Akpom’s five Ajax goals have come in just two starts for the Amsterdam giants.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
