Former Arsenal star Chuba Akpom set to return from seven week injury lay-off this weekend

NIGERIAN striker Chuba Akpom is set to return from injury with his English Championship club Middlesboro under a new manager after a seven game absence brought about by injury during which team Chris Wilder was sacked as Boro's head coach.

Akpom, 27, is a former arsenal player who came through the ranks of the Hale End Academy before joining Greek Super League club Paok Salonika in a three-year deal in 2018. In 2020, he then signed a three year deal with Middlesbrough for a fee of £2.75m, with the option of a further year.

At the start of the season, Akpom got off to a flying start, playing five matches in all competitions with Mr Wilder at the helm, scoring two goals in 271 minutes of action. He then however, hot injured and during his absence, the club's form dipped and Mr Wilder got sacked, replaced by former Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick.

Boro's managerial job became vacant after the club agreed to cut ties with Mr Wilder three weeks ago following a poor run of results. Mr Carrick, 41, played for Manchester United for 12 years before embarking on a coaching career under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

He recorded two wins against Villarreal and Arsenal and a draw versus Chelsea as caretaker manager of Manchester United in the first half of the 2021/22 season. He now gets his first fulltime managerial job and one of the first decisions he will have to make is to decide on whether to bring Akpom straight back or not.

Akpom, who trained with the Nigeria national team in 2017, is Boro's joint top scorer in the Championship with four goals, despite missing seven games. He could play his first game under Mr Carrick on Saturday when Middlesbrough tackle Preston North End in the English Championship.