Ipswich Town boss reveals why Chuba Akpom has yet to debut for the club

One-cap Super Eagles forward Chuba Akpom recently joined EFL Championship side Ipswich Town on a season-long loan, Soccernet.ng reports.

The 29-year-old fell out of favour at the Johan Cruijff Arena and spent the final six months of the 2024/2025 season with French Ligue 1 side LOSC Lille.

Bruno Genesio's side opted against signing the former Arsenal man permanently, and he joined Ipswich Town on another loan to get his career back on track.

However, Akpom hasn't featured for Ipswich Town since moving to Portman Road nine days ago, missing the game against Southampton.

What McKenna said about Chuba Akpom

The club's coach revealed the London-born Nigerian forward hasn't made his debut because of a muscle problem, but should be in contention soon.

“He trained separately at the early part of the week, but he had some muscle tightness and soreness after we tried to get him up to speed, so we've had to slow it down a little bit,” Kieran McKenna said in quotes revealed by the East Anglican Daily Times.

“Hopefully it won't be too much longer because it would be really important to have him with a group as soon as possible, given we're shorter in the midfield and forward positions than we want to be.

“Not just in terms of numbers, but also just the readiness of those players getting up to full speed and full fitness.

“Hopefully, he'll get some more training under his belt this week and be available for some minutes soon,” the 39-year-old concluded.

Akpom is not a newbie to life in the EFL Championship. He previously scored 34 goals and provided four assists in 82 games for Middlesbrough.