Pain in the Arsenal
Fansided

How Close is Chuba Akpom to Arsenal Success?

By Josh Sippie

facebooktwitterreddit

I have to admit I was a bit shocked when Chuba Akpom was sent out on loan just a week or so after Arsene Wenger said he would not loan out the youngster. For starters, it left Arsenal again on the injury tightrope, with the ever-prone Theo Walcott and the ever-inconsistent Olivier Giroud as our two key strikers. Behind them was Danny Welbeck.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Not only that, but Wenger had said he was going to give his strikers every chance to prove that they could carry the load before making any moves. Well, he made a move to send out Akpom and has not made a move in the opposite direction.

Chuba Akpom had a brilliant preseason, netting a hat trick and combining brilliantly with Alex Iwobi to prove that at 19 years of age, he still deserved some serious consideration for the Gunner’s first team.

But then Hull City came knocking and Wenger stuck a stamp on Akpom’s forehead, handed him a ticket and wished him well. This is what happened next:

That’s right, Chuba Akpom has become a scoring monster. Well, he has the roots of a scoring monster, as he has netted twice in two appearances including that beauty posted above, where he displayed excellent composure and skill to juke out Accrington’s defense before sending the ball to its home. But that was just one of his goals, here is the other:

Again, class. I understand that these are not Champion’s League contenders that he is scoring against but to go top shelf in the far corner is no easy feat and it requires a great deal of composure on the ball as well as a deft strike, which he properly exemplified.

Chuba Akpom is progressing wonderfully from what little we saw of him last year. After displaying heavy first touches and jitters on his first team looks, the youngster is now showing supreme class on the ball as well as skillful touches and extreme confidence. He never looked good for Nottingham Forest either, but this loan to Hull City may be exactly what he needs before launching his Arsenal career with full confidence and with his new goal-scoring boots on.

More from Arsenal News

So all this being said, how close is Chuba Akpom from making an impact at Arsenal?

If he keeps this scoring pace up while Arsenal’s attack continues to show blips, the tendency may be to try to make him this year’s Francis Coquelin and yank him back into the fray of a potentially struggling attack. That cannot happen. This year long loan needs to last a year. Give the young Englishman some time to make that confidence less based on some good runs of form and more based on belief in his own abilities.

What happened to Francis Coquelin is a bizarre occurrence that cannot be expected to be duplicated. However, it is also important to not make him the next Joel Campbell and to make sure he actually does get his first team chances.

Next season spells the perfect beginning for Chuba Akpom to start making headway. Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott will still be in the picture with Danny Welbeck lurking somewhere between total flop and star status. Using youthful exuberance and undeniable goal-scoring abilities, Akpom can top that collection of strikers.

Next: Denis Cheryshev is the Perfect Arsenal Investment

More from Pain in the Arsenal

Home/Arsenal News