Akpom willing to play anywhere for Arsenal
Chuba Akpom was asked to play out of position by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger last night against Nottingham Forest but the England under-21 striker insists he’s prepared to play anywhere to get minutes for Arsenal this season.
Akpom played on the left wing for Arsenal in a front three alongside Gunners’ newboy Lucas Perez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as Wenger’s men won 4-0 at the City Ground.
Akpom won a second half penalty for the Gunners, which was despatched by Perez in what was a competent display on the left flank.
With an avalanche of competition in the attacking positions for Arsenal, the likes of Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez, Alex Iwobi, Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck were all missing last night; Akpom knows he has a fight on his hands.
However, he is determined to keep his head down and keep working hard in training and grab his opportunity with both hands as and when it materialises this season.
“I think right now I’d play anywhere, I’d play in goal just to get minutes, just to be involved in the team,” said Akpom.
“I didn’t mind playing on the wing today, I’ll play anywhere the boss wants me to play, but today it was still an attacking position and I just tried to be as much of a threat as I could.
(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
“The EFL Cup is a chance for us players to show the boss what we can do. The boss wants to rest a few players for the cup and it’s just for us to go out there and show everyone what we can do.
“Hopefully more games and more minutes will follow for me. The feeling of just going out there with an Arsenal top on and just playing is the best feeling and that’s the feeling that I want to have.
“I’ve just got to keep working hard in training and keep working hard to just get out there and get as many minutes as I can.
“Yeah, I mean when the team wins 4-0 it’s always enjoyable. We tried to add as much fun as we could on the pitch and the main thing was to stay disciplined because there were a lot of changes to the team.”
