A last-minute switch and a clear football reason
The move looked done. Birmingham City believed they had their man. Then Ipswich Town stepped in, sold the project in a matter of days, and walked away with one of the Championship’s most adaptable forwards. Chuba Akpom didn’t hide why he pivoted: the football. He liked the fit, he liked the structure, and he liked what Kieran McKenna asked of a striker who can do more than just finish.
The 29-year-old arrives from Ajax on a season-long loan with a simple trigger: if Ipswich go up, they buy him for £7 million. It’s a smart, incentive-heavy deal in a league where Financial Fair Play shapes almost every decision. Ipswich get a proven scorer with top-flight experience across Europe without the immediate fee. If it works, everyone wins.
Akpom considered options in the Premier League and on the continent. That part wasn’t a bluff; his last two seasons put him on plenty of lists. But once the choice narrowed to the Championship, he leaned toward a place that plays through the lines, presses with intent, and gives attackers freedom to rotate. Birmingham made a strong push, yet Ipswich offered a style and pathway he knew how to slot into from day one.
That preference has roots. His career has been one long lesson in adjusting to systems—some that suited him perfectly, others less so. At Middlesbrough he thrived as a second striker who arrived late into the box. At PAOK he became a big-game forward, scoring the winner in the 2019 Greek Cup final. At Ajax and Lille he learned new patterns and roles, often coming on to tilt tight matches. Each stop added a tool he now brings to Portman Road.
Why McKenna’s Ipswich fits Akpom’s game
McKenna’s Ipswich is built on clarity. Out of possession, it’s compact and aggressive. In possession, it’s all about angles and tempo—full-backs high and wide, midfielders rotating to free the No. 10, wingers pinning or coming inside depending on the trigger. It asks a forward to be more than a target or a runner. The role shifts with game state, and that’s exactly where Akpom is comfortable.
Think back to his best spell at Middlesbrough. Michael Carrick used him as a sliding piece between a nine and a ten. He worked in the half-spaces, dragged centre-backs out, then arrived in the box late. The end product was ruthless: 28 league goals and a Golden Boot. The blueprint—fluid role, clear cues, variety in movements—isn’t far from what McKenna expects from his front line.
At Ipswich, Akpom can fill three jobs without breaking shape. He can lead the line with his back to goal, link play from the No. 10 pocket, or drift left to attack from the channel. That flexibility lets McKenna change the picture for opponents. One week, Akpom pins the centre-backs. The next, he pulls deep, creating space for runners to sprint past the last line. The threat isn’t just his finishing—it’s his timing.
Roles he can cover seamlessly:
- As a nine: hold-up play, first-time layoffs, near-post runs, pressing the ball-side centre-back
- As a ten: receive on the half-turn, slip passes into the box, late box entries
- As a left-sided forward: diagonal runs inside, combine with overlapping full-backs, shoot across the keeper
That toolkit comes from a career that never stayed still. A London-born Arsenal academy graduate, he made his senior debut as a teenager but had to learn the trade the hard way—loan spells at Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Brighton, and Sint-Truiden. Each move asked something new of him. Some years were about learning the physical side of the Championship. Others were about reading space in slower, more tactical leagues.
PAOK was his turning point. He arrived with potential, left with medals and the reputation of a clutch finisher. The 2019 Greek Cup final winner isn’t just a line on his CV; it’s a snapshot of a forward who can hold nerve and hit cleanly under pressure. That edge travelled with him back to England, where Middlesbrough found the role that unlocked the goals.
The Ajax chapter sharpened his instincts further. He joined for €12.3 million in August 2023, a big move into a club that prizes movement and finishing details. He often came off the bench, but he found the net across competitions and adapted to a league that punishes sloppy touches in the box. When he later went on loan to Lille in February 2025, he scored on debut against Le Havre and looked sharp in short bursts. He arrives in Suffolk with match rhythm and the habit of making quick impacts.
Now to the Birmingham twist. From their side, the pitch made sense: a key role, plenty of minutes, and a team trying to climb the table with new energy. From Akpom’s side, playing in a system that mirrors his best years mattered more. He wanted structured possession, aggressive pressing, and a manager who wouldn’t box him into one lane. Ipswich gave him that, and they backed it up with a contract structure that shows confidence without overexposing the club financially.
There’s also the human side. Players don’t just choose tactics—they choose environments. Portman Road has been rocking for months on end, the training ground work has a reputation for being detailed and demanding, and McKenna’s staff are known for honest feedback. For a forward who thrives on clarity of role and repetition in patterns, that matters as much as the formation on the whiteboard.
What does success look like? It’s not just goals, though he’ll be judged on them. It’s the chain of actions: pinning a defender so a runner can score, drawing a foul that kills pressure, pressing the first pass so the turnover happens 30 yards from goal. Ipswich under McKenna live off those moments. Akpom can produce them, with or without the final touch.
His international story adds another angle. After playing for England’s youth teams, he switched allegiance to Nigeria in 2019. He hasn’t locked down a senior cap, but a promotion chase with Ipswich keeps him in the shop window. Club form drives international chances, and a forward who scores and links play in high-stakes games always gets noticed.
There’s still the Championship itself. It’s a league that tests legs and minds—Saturday-Tuesday rhythms, heavy pitches in winter, and opponents who change styles within a game. Akpom has lived that grind before. The difference now is how he’s equipped to handle it: better movement, better first touch under pressure, better sense of when to press and when to pause. The variety in his career turns into fuel in this exact environment.
The financials are worth a closer look. A £7 million obligation to buy if promoted is bang in the middle of the market for a forward with proven second-tier output and European minutes. It spreads risk. If Ipswich fall short, they’ve had a top-end attacker for a year without a permanent hit. If they go up, they’ve secured a player already integrated into the system for a fee that looks fair in the Premier League economy.
How quickly he starts is up to McKenna. Expect minutes to ramp up rather than a straight drop-in. The staff will want match sharpness to match the team’s pressing triggers and possession patterns, and that takes a few sessions to sync. He’s fit—Lille saw to that—but Ipswich’s timing and spacing are choreographed. The sooner he reads those cues, the smoother the impact.
Where will he line up first? The safest guess is as a ten drifting left, with license to step into the box late, or as a nine who drops to overload midfield. Against deep blocks he’ll operate closer to goal; against high-press teams he’ll pull away to help beat the first line. The point is elasticity. Ipswich haven’t brought him in to play one note.
There’s competition, and that helps. Ipswich’s front unit has been one of the most fluid in the division. Whether he’s rotating with an established nine or sharing space with a creator, the coaching staff value interchangeable roles over fixed names on a board. If he scores and presses, he plays. If he’s quiet, he’ll feel pressure from the bench. That’s how high-performing teams stay sharp across 46 games.
There’s also the small matter of pressure. A promotion clause puts a spotlight on a player. Akpom has seen that before. The expectation at Ajax is intense; so is the scrutiny that came with Middlesbrough’s run. He isn’t walking into something new. If anything, the responsibility tracks with what he’s been chasing: meaningful games, clear goals, and the chance to decide a season.
And if promotion comes? Ipswich get a forward entering his peak years, tied down at a price set before the market inflates again. Akpom gets a permanent home in a team tailored to how he plays. That’s why this move made sense from the start—football first, everything else following behind it.
For now, the task is simple: adapt fast, connect with the players around him, and turn good positions into goals. The Championship rarely gives forwards time. Akpom knows that. He’s built a career out of learning quick, moving smart, and showing up when it matters. Ipswich have backed that profile. The rest is down to the next 90 minutes, and the 90 after that.
