Double Dips: Akinyemi returns
Unfinished business?
“Never go back to a place where you have been happy. Until you do it remains alive for you. If you go back it will be destroyed.” Not my words, the words of Agatha Christie. But what did she know? At the height of her fame, she disappeared to Harrogate like a York City cast-off in the mid-noughties.
It’s undoubtedly a widespread belief: that in football, as in life, things are never the same second time around. But it's not a belief shared by Dipo Akinyemi, or by York City, as he returns to the Minstermen just a year after departing for Derry City. According to Matt Uggla, Dipo is coming back with ‘unfinished business’. He returns with the club a league higher, and with Josh Stones having established himself as the first choice number 9. So is this an overly sentimental move, or a smart bit of business to add more quality to our attacking options?
Let’s cast our minds back to Akinyemi’s first spell at City. He arrived with a fanfare, and for a significant six-figure fee, amid the chaos of the club’s post-takeover recruitment in the summer of 2023. Unlike some of the other arrivals that summer, he was an instant success, striking up a partnership with Lenell John-Lewis and hitting 8 goals in his first 15 games even as the club struggled. Some injury troubles, plus the defensive setup favoured by boss Neal Ardley, meant that Dipo was unable to maintain this scoring form, with almost 3 months passing before he scored again. Another hot streak arrived late in the season, though, as his goals played a key part in securing National League safety after Adam Hinshelwood took over. The tally of 15 goals for the season only tells part of the story; in some moments Akinyemi showed a level of skill and ingenuity rarely seen in the National League, such as the instinctive long-range strike away at Bromley or the solo goal at home against Chesterfield (both against opponents who won promotion that season).
His second season at the club never really got going. The arrival of Ollie Pearce as the new first-choice striker left Akinyemi either consigned to the bench or played out wide on the left. His first goal of the season didn’t come until November, and by the January transfer window there were strong rumours linking him with a move to Chesterfield. That deal was seemingly pulled at the last minute, but another injury followed which kept him out of action for most of the remainder of the season. He made a surprise return to the starting line-up for the playoff semi-final defeat against Oldham, and that looked set to be his last game in a City shirt as the move to Derry was confirmed in July 2025.
Those two seasons give cause for optimism at what his return might bring to the City squad, but also reasons to be cautious. There can be no doubt that a fit and motivated Akinyemi can be an asset in League Two; his combination of explosiveness, physicality and technical ability would surely be attractive to most teams at the level. While he was an awkward fit on the left of a front three under Hinshelwood, within Stuart Maynard's system he will most likely be used in his more natural role as a striker. And there is a clear need for another option up front to allow Josh Stones some rest late on in games, or to cover in case of an injury.
Yet whether Akinyemi is the right man to fill that role remains an open question. Perhaps the biggest concern is whether he can stay fit, having picked up a series of injuries over the past few seasons. With the hard limit of 22 named squad members in League Two, it's vital to avoid players spending too long in the treatment room. Another concern voiced by some fans is whether he will be happy playing a bit-part role - Dipo himself said in an interview with York Hospital Ball that “I want to play where I'm wanted…where I'm the main man”. But it seems that his issue was less with a lack of a guaranteed starting place and more with how he was being used by Hinshelwood out on the left, so this fear may be overblown.
These concerns should not be dismissed out of hand, but ultimately this is a move with high potential upsides if he can recapture his best form, and fairly low risks given that we still have Stones and Pearce. Akinyemi has already played a big part in one chapter of the club's history, and while there's no guarantee that the sequel will be a success, wouldn't it be lovely if it was? Go on Dipo, prove Agatha wrong.