Ajax are reportedly putting pressure on Blues target Chuba Akpom to join Birmingham City on a permanent deal rather than Town on a season-long loan.

Yesterday, 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 on promotion, and the player opted for a move to Suffolk.

Having completed his medical with Town, Birmingham then made an approach to Ajax to sign Akpom on a permanent basis for a fee understood to be £6 million.

However, TWTD revealed this morning that 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, they look to be maintaining their interest.


According to Sky Sports News, Ajax are now putting pressure on Akpom to join Birmingham on a permanent basis rather than the Blues on loan with talks between the clubs continuing.

Akpom is understood to remain in Suffolk and ready to complete the formalities on his switch to Town.

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, returning to PAOK on loan for 2021/22, before 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 have been 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.

Photo: Stefan Koops - EYE4images via Reuters Connect

Cakeman added 18:29 - Aug 5 I do not understand our transfer strategy. If Akpom is who Kieran really wants then why not buy him instead of a loan. Ajax clearly want money now. We have plenty to spend given parachute payment and Liam Delap income. Once again we are leaving it until the last minute yet we were quick enough to get players off the payroll.
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Bazza8564 added 18:31 - Aug 5 Another twist so we can read another article. Sorry but this is silly. Club agrees terms with ITFC Player travels and passes medical Other club come back with counter offer Player stays here waiting to sign and declines other club Host Club supposedly applies pressure on player who has made his decision on an offer they have accepted, declined the alternative and sits waiting to sign? Or is agent trying to get ITFC to buy him because his fee gets bigger? Tell you what, this agent and Ajax want to play Poker against Mark Ashton, good luck!

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FransFan added 18:32 - Aug 5 Speaking of interminable waits, anybody received their season card yet?
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FransFan added 18:32 - Aug 5 Speaking of interminable waits, anybody received their season card yet?
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trulyblue added 18:32 - Aug 5 So many muppets on here that seem to think that real life transfer dealings are the same as when they are playing Football Manager on their games console.
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trulyblue added 18:32 - Aug 5 So many muppets on here that seem to think that real life transfer dealings are the same as when they are playing Football Manager on their games console.
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Bazza8564 added 18:34 - Aug 5 Why is everybody so Obsessed with "last minute" ??? Season ends in May, window closes is 27 days, how is this ever last minute? Cakeman, please help me out here....
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darkhorse28 added 18:35 - Aug 5 Blues1, I wouldn’t be so sure, sounds like we are his priority, and closer to London probably helps. But there is more scope to financially incentivise him on a permanent. If it’s two loans, that was probably an easy choice. If one club is now offering signing on fees, bonus’ and additional wages, etc etc …, well, that is potentially a very different dynamic. In which case it’s bizarre if we don’t go for a similar deal, clearly we have the dry powder to make it happen. What’s obvious is, he wasn’t a top target, he’s clearly a bit down the list, and our process to this point in having a coherent long term strategy, looks poor…, he’s clearly not one we’ve prioritised. Don’t be shocked if we don’t match the deal he can get at Brum and we move for another target. Not a top target, do we spend budget we might need for another forward, CDM etc Also lack of getting the Hutchinson deal done too. If that’s getting done, it’s easy.., if it’s not it’s probably a lot harder, and I think McKenna wants to keep him, but player, and Gamechanger would rather move Omari on. £40 million (maybe £25 million after liabilities) is huge to our budget. The lack of clarity in budgets won’t help. Lots of moving pieces.., but whatever the outcome, results and promotion wise, even if it’s brilliant, we can’t continue with no direction, poor process, and no strategy and keep getting outcomes. That’s a recipe for long term failure. We don’t plan our ID long term, and that’s very apparent the last 18 months, with no retention etc We’ve known the budget and league for many many months, and we didn’t have anyone lined up we knew we could get done, including Jens. It’s pretty chaotic. It looks every inch like a fantastic coach, who doesn’t excel in some areas, and isn’t getting the support the club needs in those areas. If we keep ignoring the issues, we’ll keep standing still and go backwards. You can get lucky in league one, and great coaching go’s a long way. You can’t get lucky at this level, not long term.

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bluelodgeblue added 18:38 - Aug 5 some pathetic so called knowledgeable comments on here! Basically no one knows F all!
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Bert added 18:39 - Aug 5 This news is over 2 hours old. As I see it, the player wants to come here but his club want to force a different arrangement on us. Ajax don’t want the player so if I was the player I would sit tight in Ipswich and exercise my preference until Ajax give in.I would imagine we want a loan arrangement which puts less pressure on us to sell any of our assets. Ashton will know how to play this ….. but then what do I or anyone else really know !!

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virginblue added 18:40 - Aug 5 “Didn’t have anybody lined up that we knew we could get done”. The naivety of that comment alone is staggering.
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Cakeman added 18:41 - Aug 5 Baza8564, I appreciate the window has a few weeks left but wouldn’t it be good to get players in before we start the season? Perhaps I’m impatient but for reason(s) beyond me we just don’t seem to be able to close out deals as quick as a lot of other clubs. If we really want a player just go for it.
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Bazza8564 added 18:52 - Aug 5 Cakeman. When you are the only bidder in a £75m deal and the player has expressed a preference it's easy. For every other deal it's tough, and the key with Mark is he wont be bent over a barrel on price, thats what makes him so good at what he does. Liverpool did a number of deals early because they did nothing all season last year and had a ton of money to burn through before the PSR year ended. EVEYONE else is still going back and forth. Newcastle cant sign a ball-boy at the moment, Norwich have signed released players or scandinavians for 3 books of green shield stamps and a jar of mustard. Please fella just give MA the room he needs without the constant angst. The player wants to come here, if that changes, we bid again, otherwise we just trust the process

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BangaloreBlues added 18:54 - Aug 5 People keep saying we are leaving things until the last minute, but the transfer window doesn't close until 1st September...
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billlm added 18:55 - Aug 5 Darkhorse 28, well said, couldn't put it better myself, to get to this stage numbers short as we all know there's more out going, it's poorly played for another summer transfer window, shambles,
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blueboy1981 added 19:01 - Aug 5 Here we go……… Again !!
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Zonderman added 19:05 - Aug 5 Marvin Ducksch to Brum is now being reported to be a ‘done deal’. Let’s hope that puts it to bed and those formalities for Akpom at Town can now be completed.
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Bergholtblue added 19:06 - Aug 5 This is becoming very boring now. I'm on holiday as of tomorrow. I think I will leave my phone at home and see what transpired when I get back
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ArnieM added 19:07 - Aug 5 Why is it this club is struggling to get deals over the line this window??
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blueboy1981 added 19:07 - Aug 5 WHY is everything so difficult for this Club ? - season after season after season, when other Clubs seem anyway to have no problem at all with transfers in or out. The excuses HAVE to STOP - or the Bullsh#t whichever it actually is.
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DannyITFC added 19:13 - Aug 5 It sounds like he wants Ipswich over Birmingham despite the permanent move offer and they are now looking at alternative striker too. However this really needs closure now, if he’s passed the medical and agreed terms then what on earth is the hold up? Surely this will be wrapped up be COP tomorrow at the very latest? And it’s all gone quiet on Cajuste deal too? It does seem both these deals are going around in circles atm. Tbh until I read the wording “signed” I’m ignoring all this nonsense and just assuming we are not getting either play now given the length of indecision going on.

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planetblue_2011 added 19:13 - Aug 5 Oh for goodness sake this is getting my nerves now!! Thought he’s had his medical! Just sign for us!
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Carberry added 19:15 - Aug 5 So good to have you on board blues1, what would we do without you? Ever thought of offering your services to the club, you know so much?
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itfc2024 added 19:21 - Aug 5 here we go again philogene saga all over again he wanted to join us last summer until he went to villa now this guy wanna come here but still we wait and wait I'm fed up with how long it takes to sign a bloody player I agree with most on here we leave things to long most clubs get deals done easy with us it takes forever sort this saga out Ashton or move on
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chepstowblue added 19:24 - Aug 5 I'm giving up with this nonsense now. This website currently has less credibility than the Sun. I'll check again at 19.59 on Friday evening !
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