Ipswich Town have successfully hijacked Birmingham City’s move for Chuba Akpom, with the ex-Arsenal striker now set to join the former club on loan.
For much of the last week, Chuba Akpom has appeared set for a move to Birmingham City.
The terms of the transfer were an initial loan move with a £7m obligation to buy if Championship club Birmingham were promoted to the Premier League.
Yet various other clubs were similarly attracted by the terms of that move. Middlesbrough made a failed attempt to hijack the transfer for their former player, and Ipswich Town appear now to have done so successfully.
Anthony Joseph and Dharmesh Sheth report for Sky Sports News that despite initially planning to hold a medical with Birmingham City on Monday, Akpom instead ended up heading to Ipswich to have one there instead.
Ajax and Ipswich have an agreement seemingly identical to the one they had with Birmingham City, with Akpom set to join on loan with a £7m obligation to buy in case of promotion.
Ben Jacobs and AllNigeriaSoccer confirm that Ipswich have now “won the race” for Akpom, even though the striker had picked Birmingham the night before.
Olympiacos had also been credited with an interest this summer, after Akpom was previously very successful in Greece. The striker won the Greek Super League in 2018/19 with PAOK as well as the Greek Cup – scoring the winner in the final.
Akpom was most recently on loan with Lille, scoring three goals and assisting one in his three-month spell. The former Gunner only made six starts for Lille, so he’ll hope for more consistent football in 2025/26.