‘BORO CALL CAME AT PERFECT TIME'

CHUBA Akpom swapped the bright lights of the Champions League for the Championship – but insists he’s exactly where he needs to be in his bid to get back to the top of the game.

- Charlie Bennett

The former Arsenal striker joined Middlesbrough from Greek side PAOK for £2.75m last month. He bagged 15 goals in two seasons and helped them win their first Super League title for 34 years with an unbeaten campaign (26 wins, four draws).

Akpom also scored the winner with an overhead kick in the 2019 Greek Cup final but jumped ship from the Mediterranean to Middlesbrough just days after a crucial Champions League qualifying victory against Portuguese giants Benfica.

The ex-England Under-21 international has unfinished business here. His Arsenal career brought 12 appearances in six years as a youngster, while loan spells at Brentford, Coventry, Nottingham Forest, Hull and Brighton yielded a total of seven goals.

He’s almost a third of his way to that figure at Boro already, scoring in each of his first two games against QPR and Barnsley, and the 25-year-old is determined to once again play on the biggest stage.

Experience