French Ligue 1 club Lille are unwilling to sign Nigeria striker Chuba Akpom despite the option to buy clause in his loan contract, Soccernet.ng reports.
Akpom joined Les Dogues from Ajax in January in a loan deal that will last till the end of the season. The 29-year-old Nigerian striker struggled for game time at Ajax in the first half of the season due to the presence of Brian Brobbey and Wout Weghorst. As such, he decided to join Lille.
Recall that Jonathan David is expected to leave Lille soon. So Akpom was brought in to ensure that the Canadian’s departure would be seamless.
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However, Akpom has not seen a lot of game time. The former Arsenal man has made ten appearances for Les Dogues, four of which were starts. He also has two goals to show.
Now, according to football transfers, the French club do not look like they will exercise the option to buy clause in Akpom’s contract as they have not been impressed by him since he joined.
However, Lille have already paid Ajax €8 million for the loan, and that is a lot of money. This means that they would just have to pay just around €2 million to make the deal permanent.
Chuba Akpom could still remain at Lille
Last weekend when Les Dogues beat Auxerre, coach Bruno Genesio used Chuba Akpom and Jonathan David. And that decision worked out fine, as David scored twice and nicked an assist. After the game, David revealed that he enjoyed his partnership with Akpom.
“The presence of Chuba (Akpom) helped me, especially against a five-man defence. In a duo, we are two number 9s who can score, make runs in depth, weigh in the box,” David said.
“He is one more player on whom they must be attentive, watch at all times. This leaves more space for him as for me.”
Since Genesio’s decision to use Akpom and David paid off, he could decide to try it out a bit more. With four games left this season, if Akpom shines in those games and helps the former Ligue 1 champions qualify for the Champions League, they could decide to make the deal permanent.