Ajax, the Dutch football club, has successfully signed Chuba Akpom, a striker from Middlesbrough in the Championship, for a deal worth up to 14.3m euros (£12.2m).
Despite not featuring this season, the 27-year-old finished last season as the second tier’s top scorer with an impressive 29 goals in all competitions.
Akpom’s move to RC Lens was almost finalized last week, but the Ligue 1 withdrew at the last minute.
With a total of 106 goals in 309 senior matches, his scoring record is quite impressive.
Expressing his gratitude towards Boro, Akpom said,
“Last season was full of memories I’ll never forget and I will be forever proud. Everyone knows what I think of [Middlesbrough boss] Michael Carrick, and I’m sure success is just around the corner. For me now, I have an exciting new challenge with one of the biggest clubs in the world, and I can’t wait to get started with Ajax.”
Although Ajax finished third in the Dutch Eredivisie last season, they started this campaign with a 4-1 win over Heracles Almelo.
Akpom started his career at Arsenal, but most of his time at the Emirates was spent on loan to Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Hull, Brighton, and Belgian side Sint-Truiden.
He scored 29 goals in 131 games at Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki, winning the league championship and cup double, and returned for a loan stint following his permanent move to Middlesbrough.
Carrick’s appointment last season seemed to rekindle Akpom’s form, as he was moved to a withdrawn number 10 role in which he thrived.
Following Carrick’s appointment, he scored 25 of his 29 goals and helped Boro to the Championship play-offs, but a knee injury and the speculation surrounding his future prevented him from featuring for the club this season.
