Swansea City’s Oli McBurnie a better option for Leeds United than Chuba Akpom

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Leeds United need a new striker with Arsenal’s Chuba Akpom and Swansea City’s Oli McBurnie potential targets.

How do you replace a striker who scored a career-best 27 goals last season, seizing the Championship Golden Boot and firing you to your best league finish in a decade? Well, according to The Mirror, by targeting a player who has scored seven goals in 79 senior appearances, an average of a goal every ten games.

The report claims that Chuba Akpom wants to leave Arsenal on a permanent deal this summer, with Leeds United, as well as Scottish champions Celtic, currently leading the queue for the 21-year-old.

However, Akpom is not the first young, promising Premier League striker linked with a move to Elland Road in recent days. The Sun reported on Sunday that Swansea City starlet Oli McBurnie is another name in the frame to replace Burnley-bound Chris Wood.

And though the Leeds-born striker has made around 30 fewer senior appearances than Akpom, the bare statistics suggest he would be a better bet for Thomas Christiansen’s promotion hunting Whites.

Crying out for a chance

After all, McBurnie is highly-regarded within the walls of the Liberty Stadium, so much so that they would only consider letting him leave on a season-long loan. Yet, there’s every reason to believe he could have a similar impact at Leeds to Tammy Abraham at Bristol City.

After all, McBurnie, who began his career in Bradford City’s academy, scored 20 goals for Swansea’s Under-23 side last season, winning the Premier League B Player of the Year award. Furthermore, although he’s yet to score a league goal for The Swans, he has impressed whenever called upon by Paul Clement.

The same, however, cannot be said of Akpom, who struggled at Championship level before. Akpom failed to score in loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Brighton, while netting just seven in 42 games for Hull City.

Though the latter two won promotion with Akpom in their ranks, the 21-year-old’s contribution was minimal to say the least. McBurnie may never have played a single minute of Championship football but, by comparison, he’s worth the risk.