The truth behind why Chuba Akpom snubbed Birmingham City for Ipswich Town emerges | OneFootball

The Ajax forward Chuba Akpom chose Ipswich Town over Birmingham City for a season-long loan, and reason for this has now become evident.

Ajax forward Chuba Akpom was subject to loan interest from both Birmingham City and Ipswich Town this summer, and the reason why he chose Portman Road over St Andrew's has now become evident.

In 11th and 14th places in the Championship respectively with five matches played, neither Birmingham City nor Ipswich Town have started the new season in the sort of form that might have been expected from two clubs who were among the pre-season favourites to push for promotion to the Premier League.

One of the transfer sagas to link these two clubs over the course of the summer was the tug-of-love over the Ajax forward Chuba Akpom, who's spent a lot of his career on loan and was set for a season-long move away from Amsterdam. Ipswich eventually won that battle, with interest also having been shown by Middlesbrough and the Greek club Olympiakos, and agreed terms with him last month.

As the Championship returns following the international break, Akpom has broken his silence over why his final decision went with the Blues from Suffolk over the Blues from the West Midlands.

Sam Morsy and Michael Carrick urged Chuba Akpom to pick Ipswich Town

Speaking to the East Anglian Daily Times, Chuba Akpom has divulged the thought process that took him to Portman Road. There doesn't seem to be any doubt in the player's mind that he has made a bad decision. "“I had some interest from the Premier League and other top divisions", he told journalist Suart Watson, "but once I decided that I wanted to come back to the Champ I always had my mind set on Ipswich."

"The main reason is that I felt the environment would just be perfect for me at Ipswich", he continued, "The style of play, the players, what the gaffer wants me to do. I think the way that the team is set up really suits me, and I think I’ll really thrive this season once I get going.”

But Akpom also admitted that he had also picked up the phone and spoken to a couple of his former colleagues to get further advice, with former Ipswich captain Sam Morsy giving the club a "glowing reference" and Michael Carrick, with whom he worked at Middlesbrough, "urged him to go and work under his former Manchester United colleague Kieran McKenna." McKenna and Carrick were both on the coaching staff at Old Trafford prior to leaving for Portman Road and The Riverside Stadium respectively.

Few players are more experienced loanees than Chuba Akpom

There are few players more experienced when it comes to going out on loan than Chuba Akpom. The London-born forward started in the youth system at Arsenal, but while he's only been signed to four clubs - the Gunners, the Greek club PAOK, Middlesbrough and Ajax - he's also had spells on loan at eight different clubs prior to his arrival at Portman Road.

His previous relationship with Michael Carrick was fruitful, with 34 goals in 82 appearances leading to a big money transfer to the Netherlands, with Ajax paying €12.3 million to Boro, increasing to a potential €14.3 million with add-ons, for his permanent signature in August 2023. He's already made three appearances for Ipswich, with the first two coming from the bench before he made his first start for them in their 5-0 demolition of Sheffield United.

98 minutes of game-time is a little early to be saying whether his stay at Portman Road will be a success or not, but Kieran McKenna's contacts certainly seem to have been a significant factor in Akpom's decision to go to Ipswich, and with this being the ninth club that he's been loaned to, it can hardly be said that this particular player doesn't know how the system works. Ipswich's gain might well turn out to be Birmingham's loss.