{"id":317813,"date":"2025-08-04T18:29:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/317813\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T18:29:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T18:29:17","slug":"birmingham-citys-move-for-chuba-akpom-hijacked-as-ex-arsenal-forward-chooses-to-sign-for-championship-rival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/317813\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham City&#8217;s move for Chuba Akpom hijacked as ex-Arsenal forward chooses to sign for Championship rival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Birmingham&#8217;s move for Chuba Akpom has been hijacked with the ex-Arsenal forward choosing to join Ipswich Town instead, talkSPORT understands.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Three Championship clubs registered interest in the 29-year-old who currently plies his trade with Ajax.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - JANUARY 30: Chuba Akpom of AFC Ajax looks on during the UEFA Europa League 2024\/25 League Phase MD8 match between AFC Ajax and Galatasaray A.S. at Johan Cruijff Arena on January 30, 2025 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Rene Nijhuis\/MB Media\/Getty Images)\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754332155_647_Chuba-Akpom-Ajax-1-1.jpg\" data-caption=\"Akpom looked set to join Birmingham despite Middlesbrough's late advances\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754332155_647_Chuba-Akpom-Ajax-1-1.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>Akpom looked set to join Birmingham despite Middlesbrough&#8217;s late advancesCredit: Getty<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"AFC Ajax Amsterdam forward Chuba Akpom plays during the match between Ajax and Galatasaray at the Johan Cruijff ArenA for the UEFA Europa League - League phase - Matchday 8 of the 2024-2025 season in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on January 30, 2025. (Photo by Stefan Koops \/ EYE4images) (Photo by EYE4images\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)\" height=\"640\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754332156_782_Chuba-Akpom-Ajax-2.jpg\" data-caption=\"However, the player is now bound for Portman Road\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754332156_782_Chuba-Akpom-Ajax-2.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>However, the player is now bound for Portman RoadCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>Akpom will leave Ajax after he was reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/3332056\/ajax-transfer-news-chuba-akpom-banned-training-ground\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">banished from first-team training<\/a> earlier this summer.<\/p>\n<p>It followed a loan spell at French side Lille during the second half of last season.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/sport\/football\/team\/113013\/birmingham-city\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> had already agreed a season-long loan deal with Ajax for Akpom.<\/p>\n<p>This deal included an obligation to buy the 29-year-old if they are promoted to the <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/topic\/premier-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Premier League<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Boro, who Akpom has previously represented, failed in their attempt to hijack the deal, but Ipswich made an even later attempt to sign the striker.<\/p>\n<p>And in a fresh twist to this transfer saga, Akpom has snubbed Birmingham in favour of the Tractor Boys, who are back in the second tier after being relegated from the Premier League last season. <\/p>\n<p>Akpom could make his Ipswich debut against Birmingham, with the two sides to meet in the <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/football\/efl\/championship\/match\/2025-08-08\/birmingham-city-v-ipswich-town\/updates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025\/26 season opener on Friday night<\/a>, live on talkSPORT.<\/p>\n<p>London-born Akpom began his career with Arsenal, making 12 senior appearances for them.<\/p>\n<p>Akpom&#8217;s move to <a href=\"https:\/\/talksport.com\/sport\/football\/team\/113105\/middlesbrough\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Middlesbrough<\/a> came in 2020 after a two-year spell with Greek side PAOK. <\/p>\n<p>Akpom spent three years with Boro prior to moving to the Netherlands in 2023.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"COVENTRY, ENGLAND - MAY 14: Middlesbrough's Chuba Akpom breaks during the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Semi-Final First Leg match between Coventry City and Middlesbrough at The Coventry Building Society Arena on May 14, 2023 in Coventry, United Kingdom. (Photo by Andrew Kearns - CameraSport via Getty Images)\" height=\"643\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Getty\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754332157_278_8549e47e-a364-4eaa-9874-4530b2c058cf.jpg\" data-caption=\"The 29-year-old won the Championship Golden Boot during his final season at Boro\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754332157_278_8549e47e-a364-4eaa-9874-4530b2c058cf.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>3<\/p>\n<p>The 29-year-old won the Championship Golden Boot during his final season at BoroCredit: Getty<\/p>\n<p>During that time, he scored 34 goals in 82 appearances across all competitions.<\/p>\n<p>The former England under-21 international also won the Championship Golden Boot during the 2022\/23 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Boro begin the new campaign at home to Swansea on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>Birmingham City set for \u00a33billion stadium upgrade as owner and Tom Brady make dream a reality<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birmingham&#8217;s move for Chuba Akpom has been hijacked with the ex-Arsenal forward choosing to join Ipswich Town instead,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,12905,748,9030,114762,393,4884,2923,100,2357,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-317813","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-championship","12":"tag-chuba-akpom","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-middlesbrough","16":"tag-transfer-news","17":"tag-transfers","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114971919858135861","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}