Report: Chelsea to miss out on signing £45m star, deal now off
Reports suggest Chelsea target Nathan Ake will stay at Manchester City this summer.
According to The Athletic, the Blues and the Dutchman have come to a mutual agreement that the deal won’t go ahead, with the clubs failing to meet at City’s requested £45m fee.
Chelsea had seemingly touted Ake as their perfect Antonio Rudiger replacement, with the Netherlands international’s ability to play left-back hopefully translating to a left-centre-back role.
The move would obviously weaken City’s options at the back, as Thomas Tuchel’s side lead the pack chasing the Champions and close runners up Liverpool.
They have already made a big dent into Pep Guardiola’s attacking options, confirming a deal for Raheem Sterling to move to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea miss out on Ake
However, The Athletic have reported a similar impact will not be happening at the back, with Todd Boehly refusing to pay City’s valuation for Ake.
The news will be well-received by Chelsea fans, if it results in a clearer path for Levi Colwill to reach the first team.
The defensive revolution for Tuchel was rumoured to be pushing the 19-year-old away from the club, with fans worrying mistakes made with Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi still haven’t been learnt from.
With Colwill being left footed, appearances on the left of defence could not be out of the question, especially if it comes alongside experienced defenders.
Chelsea look set to make that a possibility too, with Kalidou Koulibaly’s signing appearing to be imminent.
Adding the Senegal international to Thiago Silva provides the perfect pair of role models for the young defender to learn from, with Trevoh Chalobah and Malang Sarr likely to learn from them too.
While Ake’s versatility would have been nice, his ability has come under question before. If that continued at Stamford Bridge with Colwill being sold, supporters will have been asking serious questions.
