Chuba Akpom could face Arsenal for the first time on Tuesday when Ipswich Town host his former club in the Carabao Cup third round. The 30-year-old forward spent 12 years in Arsenal’s academy and first-team system, but he left in 2018 without scoring in the Premier League for the Gunners.
Akpom’s meeting with Arsenal comes soon after a significant personal milestone. He scored his first Premier League goal during Ipswich’s 5–2 defeat at Manchester United, doing so 12 years and 350 days after making his league debut for Arsenal as a 17-year-old in September 2013. The gap is the third longest between a player’s Premier League debut and first goal in the competition’s history.
The striker joined Arsenal at the age of six and progressed through the club’s academy before making 12 senior appearances across all competitions. He made one Premier League start and 11 substitute appearances for the club, but did not score for Arsenal in the league. He did, however, register an assist in a League Cup tie against Reading in 2016.
Arsène Wenger once viewed Akpom as a player with the potential to develop into a first-team option, but his Arsenal career was interrupted by multiple loan spells. He spent time at Brentford, Coventry City, Nottingham Forest, Hull City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Belgian club Sint-Truiden before leaving permanently for Greek side PAOK in 2018.
His career revived after Arsenal. Akpom won the Greek Super League with PAOK, later became the Championship’s leading scorer with Middlesbrough in 2022–23, and then moved to Ajax. His route back to English football eventually took him to Ipswich, initially on loan before the club made the transfer permanent after promotion to the Premier League.
Ipswich manager Gary O’Neil has said Akpom is available for the Arsenal match after missing out on the previous squad. With the club managing a demanding fixture schedule, the League Cup tie could offer the striker a chance to start and make an impression against the team where his professional journey began.
The occasion will be emotional, but it also represents an opportunity. Akpom is no longer the academy prospect once viewed as a possible future Arsenal striker; he is an experienced forward whose career has taken him through England, Belgium, Greece, the Netherlands and France. A strong performance—or a goal—against Arsenal would add another notable chapter to an unusually long and winding path back to the Premier League.
