Birmingham City have finally pulled out of their attempt to sign Blues target Chuba Akpom from Ajax.
On Monday, the 29-year-old was on the verge of signing for the Midlanders on loan until the Blues matched the terms of the deal, which includes the obligation to sign on a permanent basis for £7 million next summer, and the player opted for a move to Suffolk.
Having completed his medical with Town, Birmingham then made an approach to sign Akpom on a permanent basis for a fee understood to be £6 million but, as TWTD revealed yesterday morning, the former Arsenal youngster remained determined to join Town despite the St Andrew’s club’s continued pursuit.
The matter appeared to be settled when reports from Germany indicated Birmingham had turned their attention to Werder Bremen attacker Marvin Ducksch for €2 million (£1.7 million), however, as of last night, they looked to be maintaining their interest and were putting pressure on the player to move to St Andrew’s where the Blues play their opening Championship game of the season on Friday.
However, according to Sky Sports News and in line with TWTD’s understanding, they have now pulled out of the running and Akpom, who has remained in Suffolk since undergoing his medical on Monday, is now set to complete his switch to the Blues.
Newham-born Akpom came through the Gunners’ academy ranks and had spells on loan at Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Brighton and in Belgium with Sint-Truiden while a player at the Emirates.
Having made one senior start and 11 sub appearances, the 6ft tall striker moved on to PAOK Salonika in Greece for £900,000 in August 2018.
After two years, he joined Middlesbrough for £2.75 million, netting 28 goals as he top scored in the Championship in 2022/23, before returning to PAOK on loan for 2021/22, then joining Ajax for an initial €12.3 million (£10.7 million), rising to €14.3 million (£12.4 million) with add-ons.
He spent the second half of last season on loan in Ligue 1 in France with Lille, who chose not to take up an option to sign him permanently at the end of his spell.
An England cap at U16, U17, U19, U20 and U21 levels, Akpom has scored 21 goals in 39 starts and 40 sub appearances for Ajax in all competitions and bagged three in six starts and nine games from the bench during his short spell with Lille. For the Teessiders, he netted 34 goals in 59 starts and 23 games from the bench.
Town are very much in the hunt for another striker - probably two - to compete with George Hirst, Liam Delap having moved to Chelsea at the end of last season for £30 million, while Akpom also operates as a number 10.