West Ham Attempted To Block Iwobi And Akpom's Move To Arsenal

Super Eagles hopeful Chuba Akpom has suggested that West Ham attempted to block himself and Alex Iwobi from joining Arsenal.

The two attack-minded players had successful trials at West Ham, only to end up signing for the Gunners which did not go down well with the Hammers, and the two London clubs accused each other of tapping up the players.

Akpom and Iwobi rose through the Gunners ranks before making their debuts in September 2013 and October 2015 respectively.

Two of the best young players to have graduated from Arsenal Academy in the past decade, they played 161 games combined for the first team before moving on to pastures new.

"I signed for Arsenal when I was five, I signed with Alex Iwobi actually same time and we were just training through the ranks," Akpom told Don Dada in an Instagram conversation.

"We were on trial at West Ham and Arsenal and Arsenal and West Ham they had a bit of a fight because of that, because they were trying to say why are you taking my player?

"I signed for Arsenal, we couldn't play for West Ham for a few seasons because of that, we stayed at Arsenal, we were training and went for tournaments..."

Akpom who has played internationally for England's youth teams is hoping to represent the Super Eagles in the near future and is awaiting clearance from FIFA.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : arsenal.com