The English forward from Canning Town, a suburb of London, came to Amsterdam this summer. The forward came with an outstanding season in the Championship with Middlesbrough under his belt. His feel for the goal came to full fruition in November. In every match he's played in this month, it has taken him no more than half an hour to score.
With three goals in three substitutions, he surpasses Ajax greats. Famous strikers like Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Patrick Kluivert and Dennis Bergkamp all scored in two consecutive substitutions, but did not find the goal in a third successive substitution. Ultimately, there have been 28 Ajax players who managed to score for Ajax as substitutes in two successive matches.
With his goal against FC Volendam on the first day of November, he followed Ray Clarke who until then had been only Englishman to score in an Ajax shirt. In the 1978-1979 season, the former Ajax player scored 26 Eredivisie goals in the red and white.
With his four goals in the 269 minutes that Akpom has played for Ajax so far, his average of one goal every 67 minutes is not too shabby. He hasn't had such a high scoring average per minute at any other club. Of course, we do have to mention that he's only come into action for Ajax in twelve matches. By comparison, he played over 80 matches for Middlesbrough, for example, and exceeded 130 matches with PAOK in Greece.
"I've only been able to show fifty per cent of my potential", said the English striker in the press conference after Almere City – Ajax. That's good news. That means we can expect a lot more from our English Ajax player.