Prior to this summer, it felt like Chuba Akpom's career at Middlesbrough was all but over.

Having made just one Championship appearance for the club last season, having spent the season out on loan at PAOK in Greece, the natural conclusion was that the forward would likely be moved on.

However, that did not prove to be the case, with Akpom instead reintegrated into the squad by Chris Wilder due to his lack of forward options.

Since then, Akpom has gone on to feature far more than most would have predicted ahead of the summer, but with his current deal due to expire next summer, the club will soon have a decision to make on his future.

With that in mind, and with the World Cup break upon us, we thought we'd take a look at the 27-year-old's statistics so far this season, as per Wyscout, in order to try and assess whether or not Boro should offer the forward a new deal.

Akpom's performance in numbers

Starting with the most basic of statistics, Akpom has appeared 14 times for Boro in the Championship so far this season, scoring an impressive eight goals in those matches.

That leaves the 27-year-old with 0.69 goals per 90 so far this campaign.

Akpom has done this overperforming his expected goals (xG), which stands at 0.52 per 90, or 5.95 across the season.

Akpom's eight goals leave him just one goal behind the league's top scorers, who are on nine for the campaign at this stage.

 

 

Interestingly, Akpom does this averaging 2.51 shots per 90, with his total of 29 shots for the season ranking 29th in the Championship.

For context, Blackburn's Ben Brereton Diaz leads the way in this category, having taken 62 shots this season.

Last but not least, another area that Akpom appears to perform well for Boro this season is in offensive duels.

The 27-year-old wins 32.2% of his 10.22 offensive duels per 90. His total here ranks 57th in the Championship, with QPR's Chris Willock averaging 22.32 offensive duels per 90.

New deal?

Considering the above, and the other options that the club currently have, you are inclined to suggest that this is a deal Middlesbrough should perhaps look to do.

However, I do think that Michael Carrick should be given more time to work with and assess the player before doing so, giving the new boss a real opportunity to have his input on the decision.

That said, though, given that Akpom has double the goals of Duncan Watmore, and six more than Marcus Forss and Rodrigo Muniz at this stage, you are definitely inclined to believe this is a deal that Middlesbrough will pursue.