“No one has forgotten May 20, 2012 and John Utaka’s famous double at the Stade de l’Abbé Deschamps in Auxerre. A double that put John in the MHSC guestbook for eternity. Eleven years later, the Montpellier club has once again decided to bet on a Nigerian striker in the person of Akor Adams. proudly announced Montpellier during the summer when signing Akor Adams. A 23-year-old Nigerian scorer, this 1m90 colossus in any case moved forward with great confidence. Star scorer for the Norwegian club Lillestrøm SK, the Kogi State native had scored 15 goals (and 2 goals) in 15 matches, as well as 2 goals in 2 Cup matches. A true serial scorer, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Nigerian legend John Obi Mikel who had also revealed himself in Norway, at Lyn Oslo before arriving at Chelsea. “Those we saw playing football there. We had John Obi Mikel and we all wanted to be like them. It became the setting of our dream” he declared to TV2.
Close to going to Belgium, a championship which has highlighted many Nigerian scorers like Paul Onuachu (ex Genk), Emmanuel Dennis (ex Bruges) or even Emmanuel Gift Orban (La Gantoise), Akor Adams finally opted for the League 1 and it was Montpellier who won. A transfer worth 4.5 million euros accompanied by a bonus of 1 million euros which was to compensate for the sale of Elye Wahi to Lens for 30 million euros (+€5M bonus). Going behind a player who scored 19 goals and delivered 6 goals in 33 matches last year, the mission proved complicated for Akor Adams but the latter has been fully present since the start of the exercise. Starting strong with a double against Le Havre (2-2) and a goal against Olympique Lyonnais (4-1) in his first two matches, he now has 7 goals after 12 days and finds himself second top scorer in Ligue 1 .
AC Milan on the spot
Moreover, his coach Michel Der Zakarian took advantage of his double against the HAC to put the church back in the center of the village regarding the doubts surrounding the level of the player upon his arrival: “Akor Adams, we criticized him a little because he scored fifteen or seventeen goals in Norway but we have to score these goals. No matter the championship, when you are a scorer, you score. He showed that he is capable of scoring. Finally, the doubts quickly disappeared for one of the key attackers at the start of the season in Ligue 1. A nice tour de force for Akor Adams who is also the current Golden Shoe ahead of Amahl Pellegrino (Bodo/Glimt) and Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) thanks above all to his goals in Norway obviously but also his good start to the season in Ligue 1.
After his last double against Toulouse, Michel Der Zakarian added a layer to his subject at a press conference: “Akor Adams, his statistics are impressive, yes and what’s more, he scores some nice goals. On the first, his control is very (very) good, it’s not easy on an aerial ball like that to control and chain the shot. It’s good because he was disappointed with his training, he had several situations that he couldn’t make happen. Finally, he insists, he insists and it comes to smile on him. Good for him, good for us. (…) In Norway, we saw that he scored a lot of goals but it was not the French championship, we were wondering about the level. He is a player who has an enormous physique, 90 kilos, you have to carry them around, 1m90, he is powerful, he goes fast, technically, he is improving… He is a worker.
A work which could bring a reward since a European leader is on his trail. While Olivier Giroud remains efficient (8 goals and 3 goals in 15 matches) but his contract ends at the end of the season, AC Milan is keeping a close eye on Akor Adams according to information from Sky Sports Italy and the journalist Gianluca Di Marzio. The Italian club, which has also launched approaches for Serhou Guirassy (Stuttgart), would like to prepare for the future and provide competition for Olivier Giroud. A role that Luka Jovic was unable to play and is disappearing from the radar. Going from the Norwegian D1 to AC Milan in six months is only one step and Milan would like to make Akor Adams take it this winter. Montpellier, which has smelled the right low-cost pick, can already rub its hands.
