Middlesbrough FC will never regret big Chuba Akpom decision | OneFootball

A record-breaking season hands the Riverside Stadium a cult-hero; Boro will never regret the gamble they took on Chuba Akpom...

Middlesbrough signed former Arsenal forward Chuba Akpom in September 2020, but it would be another two years before a remarkable season cemented himself in Riverside Stadium legend.

Signed for a reported fee of £2.75m, Akpom made his return to English football after joining Boro from Greek side PAOK on a three-year deal, with the option of a further year.

After emerging from Arsenal's academy system and being handed his senior debut for the Gunners in 2013, Akpom struggled to make an impression at the Emirates, and spent a large amount of time out on loan with the likes of Coventry, Hull, Brighton and Belgian side St. Truiden respectively.

With the majority of those spells being underwhelming, he made the decision to reignite his stagnating career in Greece, where he was able to register his first double-digit scoring season of his career in 2019/20.

So, when Neil Warnock completed a deal to bring him to Teesside, he had his fair share of skeptics after failing to really prove himself in England. However, all it would take was one record-breaking season in 2022/23 to ensure Middlesbrough will never regret taking a gamble on Akpom...

Chuba Akpom endures difficult start to Middlesbrough career, and looks destined to be Riverside bust

Operating as a centre-forward, Akpom was chosen to be Middlesbrough's main man in attack for the 2020/21 season, and it looked to be an inspired decision in the early stages.

He bagged a goal on his Boro debut away at Queens Park Rangers, before following that up with another goal in the following game against Barnsley on matchday three of the 2020/21 season.

However, Akpom would score just three more goals for Boro that term, and thus his debut season on Teesside was deemed largely underwhelming, and hadn't provided the goalscoring striker Warnock was looking for.

As a result, he was loaned back to PAOK for the duration of the 2021/22 season. It was here that Akpom rediscovered his form in front of goal to a certain extent, bagging 11 goals in 52 total appearances for the Greek outfit.

Returning to Middlesbrough in the summer of 2022, Akpom wasn't necessarily welcomed back to a fanfare. Quite the opposite, in fact. There was a new manager in town, Chris Wilder, and he appeared to see no place in his squad for him.

Akpom was told to train away from the first-team squad with the youth team, and was waiting patiently for his agent to find him a permanent home elsewhere. But an injury crisis in Boro's attacking ranks left Wilder with no option but to call upon his outcast, and in-turn, created one of the biggest sliding doors moments in the club's recent history.

Michael Carrick unlocks Akpom's ability, and hands Middlesbrough a cult-hero

After a brief return to the Boro lineup in the opening few games of the 2022/23 season, which saw him bag two goals against Sheffield United, Akpom was then absent from the matchday squad entirely between matchday four-11 through injury.

Come 3 October 2022, Wilder was sacked as Middlesbrough manager, and was soon to be replaced by Michael Carrick a couple of weeks later. The former Manchester United legend instantly got to work on bringing Akpom back firmly into the fold, and in an entirely new position.

Akpom had admitted that the number 10 role has always been the position he's felt most comfortable playing in, but managers had consistently opted to deploy him as a centre-forward throughout his career.

However, that was about to change, as Carrick saw the potential to unlock Akpom by moving him into an attacking midfield role. What occurred as a result was one of the finest individual seasons from a Middlesbrough player in recent memory.

Playing as a number 10, Akpom became the first Boro player since Bernie Slaven in 1989/90 to score 20 league goals in a single season, and he wasn't finished there.

He would end the season with 29 goals in 42 total appearances on his way to winning the Championship Golden Boot award, serving up the type of campaign that many Middlesbrough fans, certainly younger ones, had never seen before.

Boro failed to win promotion to the Premier League that year, however, and as a result, meant keeping Akpom for another season in the second tier was an impossible task.

Middlesbrough eventually found him a new home in Amsterdam, as Ajax parted with an initial £10.5m with the potential to rise to £12.3m for the forward in August 2023.

Iconic celebrations, memorable strikes and one of the most successful reclamation projects in Middlesbrough's history, Akpom embarked on his Ajax adventure with the blessings of every Teessider, as they recognised the season they just saw was one that might not come around again for a very long time.