Sheffield United ‘eyeing a £10m move’ for Middlesbrough’s Everton and Crystal Palace-linked star Chuba Akpom
The summer window has been a difficult one for the Blades, who have lost influential playmaker Iliman Ndiaye and could now reportedly lose crucial figure Sander Berge to top flight rivals Burnley.
However, Paul Heckingbottom’s frontline could be strengthened as TEAMtalk have claimed Akpom is a target for the club.
The 27-year-old did not hit the ground running at the Riverside, initially struggling for consistency and finding himself out on loan at PAOK.
However, he has emerged as a key figure in Michael Carrick’s side and scored 28 goals in the Championship last season.
He was named as a substitute for Middlesbrough’s league opener against Millwall, but was not used. Talks between Akpom and his current club are said to be ongoing but he has also been linked with Everton and Crystal Palace.
The Arsenal academy graduate found the target against the Blades when they hosted Middlesbrough at Bramall Lane back in February. He has a total of 129 second tier appearances on his CV, although has appeared in the Premier League on just four occasions.
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What made his ruptured Achilles so upsetting was the previous day the centre-back was named in Japan’s squad for his first World Cup.
On Tuesday Nakayama could play his first competitive game since, making a League Cup first-round tie at home to Middlesbrough far more important to the 26-year-old than his manager.
Speaking ahead of it, he made the remarkable claim he parked his World Cup disappointment getting back to the dressing room.
“I think it’s weird but as soon as I got the injury, in the stadium, I knew I couldn’t play in the World Cup so I just switched my mind to getting the chance to come back stronger,” said Nakayama.
“I’ve had a lot of experience of getting my head down and that’s why I didn’t regret it.
“In my career I’ve had a lot of bad experiences but after every experience I’ve been able to be stronger as a footballer and a person.”
He hopes Tuesday can also be a first chance to repay fans who showed him so much support when his maiden season in English football was so brutally cut short.
“They gave me a lot of energy so I need to show my appreciation when I play in the stadium and also give them wins – that’s the biggest appreciation I can give,” he argued.
“I think the home fans will be very important for us this season.
“I haven’t played 90 minutes in pre-season. I feel like I can do it but it depends how intense the game is.”
“He’s been an absolute dream, the lad,” he said. “I didn’t see much of him before we came to the football club but as a human being he’s an absolute diamond of a boy and when you’ve had an injury like that you just hope he can come back and show us what he’s all about.
“When you have good human beings – people like Jonathan Hogg, Wardy (Danny Ward), Tom Lees – in your football club they set the tone in the changing room. We’ve got good solid pros like Matty Pearson who lead in there, proper lads.”
Changes to the team beaten at Plymouth Argyle are inevitable after Neil Warnock said Town lacked the depth to give the cup a real crack. Opportunity knocks for youngsters.
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