Bradford City have announced the signing of former Reading midfielder Hope Akpan on a free transfer, confirmed by the club website.
Hope Akpan signs for Bradford City after signing a two-year deal, becoming the City’s ninth signing of the summer.
✍️ DONE DEAL | We are pleased to announce Hope Akpan has joined #BCAFC from @burtonalbionfc on an initial two-year contract.
Hope has joined up with the squad at our pre-season camp today 👊
Read the full story here 👉 https://t.co/jZcnp0Ve5h pic.twitter.com/aYXvdNGD5z
— Bradford City AFC (@officialbantams) July 4, 2018
The midfielder made 27 appearances for Burton Albion in the Championship last season, with Akpan featuring heavily in the second half of their campaign as Burton nearly pulled off a dramatic survival.
Bradford City Head Coach Michael Collins said: “We are really pleased to get Hope into the building.”
“We already had excellent quality in that area (midfield), but Hope will add to that whilst also offering a strong physical presence.”
“The intensity of the league demands we have quality in all departments to cope, and we feel like we are getting there now.”
About former Burton Albion midfielder, Hope Akpan –
A strong physical presence in midfield, Akpan has played in all four divisions of English football since leaving boyhood club Everton in 2011. After leaving Everton his next club was Crawley Town in League 2 playing his part as the Red Devils won promotion from League 2. Reading swooped in to take Hope to the Madejski Stadium offering a return to the Premier League in January 2013.
After two years at Reading Hope moved to Blackburn Rovers on a two-year deal and over the last two years has played 60 times in the Championship scoring four times from his midfield role. After a disrupted 2016/17 season at Ewood Park Hope was released following Blackburn Rovers relegation to League One, Nigel Clough making his move to add Hope’s strength and skill to his midfield options.
Here is how Bradford City fans reacted to the signing of Hope Akpan –
https://twitter.com/Jacob863/status/1014452701948776448
https://twitter.com/MilligansJr/status/1014452751542161408
https://twitter.com/bcafcparko/status/1014453309032357888
Great signing! Very impressed with the recruitment this year! #bcafc #CTID https://t.co/zk2LUajfcT
— Ollie Eli (@eli_ollie) July 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/TravelAlastair/status/1014453518537641984
I thought Akpan was likely to stay in the Championship considering Bolton had been linked – that's an excellent signing #bcafc
— Tim Penfold (@Bantamtim) July 4, 2018
https://twitter.com/Callumking10/status/1014454458594549760
The signings just continue to impress. We've actually smashed it with this one! #BCAFC https://t.co/bnVENsCfY4
— BantamsVlogs (@BantamsVlogs) July 4, 2018