Arsenal’s Curious Handling of Chuba Akpom Threatening to Derail Promising Career

The last few days of Arsenal’s transfer window were notable for the departure of several players on loan. The likes of Calum Chambers and Jack Wilshere were afforded the opportunity to move to another club temporarily to seek invaluable game time.

However, there was one player who might have expected to move on but ended up remaining in north London. Somewhat surprisingly, young striker Chuba Akpom was retained at the Emirates Stadium.

With the 20-year-old unlikely to make a major impact on the first team, it’s a decidedly curious decision from manager Arsene Wenger.

As far back as the start of August there were reports that Akpom would not be allowed to leave on loan. Jeremy Wilson of the Telegraph wrote:

Chuba Akpom has been told that he will not be loaned out at the start of the new Premier League season and will get a further chance this weekend to stake his claim to lead Arsenal’s attack against Liverpool next Sunday.

Arsenal are still trying to add a striker but, with bids turned down already this summer for Jamie Vardy and Alexandre Lacazette, Arsene Wenger has told Akpom to stay for now and try to take his chance.

At the time that made some sense. Arsenal were set to begin the Premier League campaign without Olivier Giroud, who was still recovering from his extended run with France in this summer’s European Championship. What’s more, they had yet to make a significant attacking signing.

However, by the time the transfer deadline came around, Giroud was once again fit and available for selection. What’s more, Wenger had completed the purchase of Spanish striker Lucas Perez. There was seemingly no great need for Akpom in the squad.

In fact, there are even more contenders for the central striking role to consider. Alexis Sanchez played Arsenal’s first three fixtures as a centre-forward, and by the time they faced Watford in their third game the Chilean had begun to acclimatise to the position.

There’s also Theo Walcott—although he has started the season on the right flank, Wenger insists he remains an option through the middle. Per Football 365, the Frenchman said: “It is an important season for Theo, because last year he had a difficult period … He can play as a striker and his numbers are excellent when he plays up front.”

Although Wenger’s definition of “excellent” is seemingly somewhat loose, what’s clear is that Arsenal now have a wide variety of attacking options to consider, all of whom have greater experience and quality than Akpom. If the window of opportunity appeared to be creeping open a month ago, it has now firmly …

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