Southampton women have announced the signing of Polish-born Nigerian midfielder Ashanti Akpan on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
The Saints announced the signing on Saturday in a statement on their website.
“The 19-year-old arrives from the eight-time Women’s Super League champions to bolster Saints’ midfield, having already featured in the second tier and made her Blues debut across her career so far,” the club said.
“Akpan has risen through the Chelsea ranks since the age of seven and won the FA Youth Cup and WSL Academy Cup during her time in youth football, before making her senior debut in March 2023.
“She signed professional terms in December 2023, but more recently gained full senior experience with her first loan to WSL2 side Birmingham last season.
“The England youth international made 15 appearances in all competitions across a 2024/25 campaign that saw second-placed Birmingham narrowly miss out on promotion.
Looking to take the next step in her career with Saints, Akpan said: “I’m very excited for the season ahead. I feel like another season in the [second tier] will do me a lot of good and allow me to improve a lot as a player.
“I’m really excited to play in front of the fans at St Mary’s, it will be nice to hear the crowd behind us because I think the support throughout the season will be really important for us.”
Akpan was born in Warsaw to a Polish mother and Nigerian father, and later moved to England with her family.
Internationally, Akpan is eligible to play for Poland through her place of birth, for Nigeria through her Nigerian father, and for England.
She was capped for England at all youth levels from under-15 to under-23.
With the U-19s, she participated at the 2024 UEFA Women’s U-19 Championship, where England reached the semi-finals after being eliminated by eventual champions Spain.
By James Agberebi