“He’s desperate”- Carrick analyses free-scoring Nigerian striker

Carrick has breathed some air into the team since he took over, and he has been impressed with Akpom's mentality 

Manchester United legend and Middlesbrough coach Michael Carrick has praised Chuba Akpom for his brilliance this season.

It has been a massive turnaround for Nigerian striker Chuba Akpom at Boro this season. The 27-year-old has been impressive in recent months.

Akpom arrived at the club in 2020, but he did not impress. He scored only five goals in 39 appearances for the club. The following season, he was sent to his former club PAOK on a season-long loan deal.

The former Arsenal still could not churn out the numbers. Upon his return, there were talks that Middlesbrough would let him go last summer.

However, the club kept faith in him, and he has returned the favour. Akpom has 22 goals in 29 Championship appearances this season. In fact, he has been flying since Carrick took over from Chris Wilder as Boro coach.

Carrick has been impressed by his top striker's performance, and he wants Akpom to continue as they push for Premier League promotion.

“It’s fantastic when someone in your team scores the goals that he has, but the biggest thing for me has been seeing Chuba grow, as a player and as a person,” Carrick said per The Northern Echo.

“Having that taste of goals and of success, he’s using that as motivation to push himself even more.

“It’s almost a form of greed in the nicest kind of way because it’s motivating him to want more.

“Some people get a taste for that and think, ‘That was fantastic, well done’. Others think, ‘I want a little more of that, I want to improve and I want bigger and better things’.

“For me, the way Chuba has gone about it, he’s desperate to learn and desperate to take in information all the time.”

Middlesbrough sit third in the Championship, four points behind second-placed Sheffield United. Boro would hope that Akpom keeps firing on all cylinders as they push for Premier League promotion with ten games left.