Chelsea’s Nathan Ake is set to return to fellow Premier League side AFC Bournemouth for an estimated £20 million.
According to a report in the Sun, the Dutchman’s return to Bournemouth on a permanent basis is set to be finalised within the next 2 days. The report further goes on the state that the 22-year-old will become the Cherries’ record signing, setting them back £20 million.
Ake has reportedly agreed a five-year-deal with the club and is the second Chelsea player to switch Stamford Bridge for the Dean Court this summer after goalkeeper Asmir Begovic moved to the Cherries for an estimated £10 million, after spending 2 years at the club.
In his 5 years as a Chelsea player since he joined from Feyenoord in 2012 aged 16, Ake has made a total of 17 appearances for the Blues across all competitions and was sent to 3 different clubs on loan, namely Reading, Watford and Bournemouth for varying lengths of time.
Last summer he was sent to Bournemouth on loan in a bid to get more experience and build upon an extremely promising loan spell at Watford in the 2015/16 season and Ake thoroughly impressed, making 12 appearances and scoring 3 goals across all competitions in a 6 month spell.
It was enough to convince Antonio Conte to recall Ake and it looked like he would be set for a more prominent role at Stamford Bridge next season, if not the remainder of the 2016/17 campaign. However, he would only go on to make 5 appearances for the club after his return.
Chelsea were unable to assure him of a place in the starting XI time and it was his desire to feature regularly that forced the Blues to let him go, despite not really wanting to let him go. Ake’s transfer, when made official will make him the seventh Chelsea player to depart this summer.
However, the Blues haven’t ruled out a possible return to Stamford Bridge for Ake, and according to the Independent have inserted a buy-back option in his terms of sale which will allow them to purchase him from Bournemouth on a later date for a said amount, should they wish to do so.
If true, it would be a wise move on Chelsea’s part, who seem to have had to see their previous Premier League exports such as Romelu Lukaku and Ryan Bertrand grow into some of the best players in the English top flight right now and see their market value rise tremendously.
