Twist emerges in Sunderland AFC, Chuba Akpom transfer situation | OneFootball

Chuba Akpom is not interested in a return to the Championship with the Black Cats this month

Ajax striker Chuba Akpom is set to snub a move to Championship promotion hopefuls Sunderland, after recent reports of the Black Cats' interest in his signature, according to a new update on the chase from Dutch outlet AD.

Akpom is best known in English football for his time with Middlesbrough, where he spent three years from 2020 to 2023 and became one of the Championship's hottest attacking properties.

The 29-year-old was born in London and began his career at Arsenal, but failed to ever break through into the Gunners' first team on a consistent basis and instead grew his profile with loan spells at the likes of Nottingham Forest, Hull City and Brighton & Hove Albion before a permanent move to Greek side PAOK in 2018.

An unsuccessful two years in Greece saw him return to England with Boro in 2020, and after a tough first two seasons on Teesside, he bagged 28 goals in 38 league games in 2022/23 to earn a move to Dutch giants Ajax.

Akpom impressed in his first season in Amsterdam, yet has struggled for minutes this term and so was linked with a return to the Championship with Sunderland this month, but that move looks unlikely to happen after recent revelations.

Chuba Akpom does not want to join Sunderland right now

Reports around the Black Cats' interest in Akpom emerged yesterday, as reporter Santi Aouna stated that they were pushing to sign the ex-Boro frontman, following previous interest from French clubs Lille and Lens.

Despite those claims, a new update on the situation around his potential Ajax exit has emerged today, with Dutch outlet AD reporting that Akpom holds 'no interest' in a move to Sunderland and a return to the Championship, despite Regis Le Bris' side currently being in the midst of a real promotion push in fourth place.

Sunderland are in need of a goalscorer this month to boost their promotion credentials ahead of the likes of Leeds United, Burnley and Sheffield United, but Akpom now looks set to join the likes of Tom Cannon and Ben Brereton Diaz as failed transfer targets in the January window.

Akpom will feel like he has moved past the Championship now

Signing any Ajax first-team regular feels like a coup for a Championship side, and while the Dutch giants compete with PSV Eindhoven for the Eredivisie title and look set to move onto the play-off round of the Europa League, it is probably understandable as to why Akpom is reluctant to move back to second-tier football.

Any deal made this window would likely have been a loan, possibly with a view to buy if the Black Cats were promoted, but there is no guarantee of that with Le Bris' side currently sat in fourth spot, and Akpom is now 29-years-old and likely wants to see out his career in top-flight leagues.

He has previously been a hit in the North East with Boro, but that 2022/23 season in which he won the Championship Golden Boot and was named as the league's Player of the Season and the Player's Player of the Season felt like a clear sign of his talents being too much for the second-tier to handle, hence his £10.5m move to the Dutch capital that summer.

Akpom is currently out-of-favour under Francesco Farioli in terms of starts, but has still appeared in every single Europa League game so far this term, and made 31 appearances in all competitions up to now, so will feel like he still has a lot to give for Ajax before the season is out.

With that said, it does come as little shock that he has reportedly snubbed a move to Sunderland this month, and the Black Cats will now have to move on to another new striker target to help fire them back to the Premier League.