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Chuba Akpom Waves Goodbye To English Football

As the season gets closer and closer with the pre-season fading into the distance, more players are starting to make transfers elsewhere around Europe. Whilst the major leagues are certainly much more publicised when it comes to players coming and going, there are often plenty of moves that happen that people don’t even realise have happened. That’s the nature of any given transfer window, especially in the summer.

One such move that quietly went through in the last few days is the departure of Chuba Akpom from Arsenal, after a few years of fans wondering whether or not he’d stay or go. The Gunners have had a series of incoming and outgoing players as they attempt to bolster their squad prior to the start of the new campaign, but that has led to a series of decisions from Unai Emery that he otherwise wouldn’t have to make. The Spanish manager isn’t afraid to upset the established order, but when it comes to Akpom, it’s somewhat odd to see him go when you consider how much hype was behind him.

The 22-year-old has made the jump over to Greece with PAOK, and it certainly seems like he’s got a chip on his shoulder. Whilst he’s struggled to find the back of the net during the majority of his loan spells he’s still showcased a certain flair on the ball that you don’t see every day, and it’ll be interesting to see whether or not his development in the game progresses even quicker away from English football.

Lamine Kone is another man who has swapped England for an alternative, with Strasbourg bringing him over to France on loan. That’s been a process that has happened a lot over the course of the last few years, with many big clubs being relegated from the Premier League – leading to an exile of foreign stars who initially came over because of just how much of an appeal the EPL has.

Jordy Clasie also went to Feyenoord on loan following Southampton’s poor campaign last season, as the allure of the Premier League seems to be slipping with each and every passing year. Arguably the biggest move outside of the big leagues, though, came when Aleksandr Golovin confirmed his transfer to Monaco from CSKA Moscow. The Russian sensation made a real impact in this year’s World Cup, helping to guide hosts Russia all the way through until the latter stages of the tournament. Now, though, he’ll have to prove himself in Ligue 1.

Plenty of big players outside of the major leagues are going to make an impression in Europe, but in terms of ones that are flying under the radar, Chuba Akpom could be someone who is worth keeping an eye on. Arsenal have lived to regret selling players on too early in the past, and that could be the case again here. Being a forward doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be a world-class goalscorer these days, and we could see the living proof of that.