Chelsea gave up on their pursuit of Nathan Ake after failing to match his asking price, but Pep Guardiola was more than happy to keep the 27-year-old at Manchester City as he recognised his value to the squad.
Calcio Mercato Web say Juventus are interested in Ake as a potential replacement for Matthijs De Ligt, having missed out on Kalidou Koulibaly who joined Chelsea from Napoli this summer, but it remains to be seen if their pursuit is successful.
Where will Manchester City finish in the Premier League this season?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th or lower
Manchester City have sold important players this summer – Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal, Raheem Sterling to Chelsea, Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal* – so Guardiola might prefer not to make wholesale changes to the squad just weeks before the new season starts.
Vital Man City have mentioned how difficult it would be to replace Ake with a like-for-like defender too, so he’s one player that is better off staying. The 27-year-old hasn’t been a regular at the Etihad Stadium, but he’s not pushing for an exit like Jesus and Sterling were. His contract has three years to run too, so City aren’t being held to ransom.
Nevertheless, Juventus might have to turn their attentions elsewhere if they don’t want to stump up £50m for the Dutchman.
In other news, Arijanet Muric ‘could end up’ leaving permanently after 5 loan moves in 4 years