'I was top scorer in pre-season': Ex-Arsenal striker on exit

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Chuba Akpom scored against Arsenal on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup, a decade on from a spell at the Emirates Stadium where the goals came in pre-season but the opportunities never followed.

The Newham-born striker made just 12 senior appearances for the Gunners, a return that sits awkwardly alongside his numbers in friendlies. In the summer of 2013 he scored four times in pre-season, and ahead of the 2015/16 campaign he top-scored again, helped by a hat-trick against a Singapore XI.

Those goals did not translate into minutes under Arsene Wenger. Instead came loan moves — five domestic switches in total, taking in Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion, the club Arsenal face this weekend — none of which brought him any closer to a place in Wenger's starting XI.

'Why am I not getting opportunities?'

Speaking to The Independent in 2018, Akpom explained the thinking behind his repeated push to get out on loan.

"I pushed for a loan as soon as I turned 18," he said. "It can be tough [on loan]. You might not be in the squad, might not start, there's a lot of things that make that little bit of doubt creep in."

"Especially when you're thinking like Arsenal are looking and I'm not playing. It looks bad, but I saw people my age playing and I thought I want to be as well. I don't want to be in the reserves, I want a challenge. That's just who I am."

He added: "At Arsenal, it was frustrating. Just thinking why am I not playing? Why am I not getting opportunities? I think I did well when I had the chances, I was top goalscorer in preseason, and I think I did well when I played in the cups. Sometimes, that's just how it is. Maybe my path is different from other players, but I've never had any regrets… but I didn't really get a real opportunity [at Arsenal] in my opinion."

A career built abroad

The breakthrough came away from north London. A final loan at Sint-Truiden brought six goals in 16 games, followed by 18 across two seasons with PAOK in Greece.

His return to England was slow to ignite, but Michael Carrick's mid-season arrival at Middlesbrough changed things dramatically. Akpom finished with 28 Championship goals — seven more than any other player — as Boro secured a play-off finish.

Ajax came next, with 15 goals in all competitions in his first season, three of them in the Europa League, and four more in Europe the following year. A loan at Lille then delivered Champions League football, more than a decade after Wenger first named him on an Arsenal bench in the competition.

In the summer of 2025, months before turning 30, he came home. A year on loan at Ipswich ended in promotion, and after making the move permanent he has already matched his first-season tally of two goals.

"I have had lots of good experiences over the last few years, at Ajax and playing in the Champions League with Lille, and I feel like all of these have improved me as a player and helped me be the person I am now," he said after signing for Ipswich. "I'm here to do as much as I can do to help the team, in the changing room and on the pitch, and I'll bring a winning mentality here."

Arsenal have changed enormously since Akpom's departure, and their academy pathway looks different again. His goal on Tuesday was a reminder of a career that found its shape elsewhere.