Chelsea have cooled their interest in Nathan Ake and are turning their attentions to other options, according to the Standard. Ake, 24, obviously came through the academy in SW6 and the deal to sell him to the Cherries reportedly included a £40 million buy-back clause.
However, Frank Lampard is concerned whether Ake is the right fit for the higher defensive line he prefers to play with. Still, Chelsea’s defence hasn’t been stellar this season. They’ve shipped 29 in the league this season, more than any other side in the top six.
So far this term, Ake is averaging 1.4 interceptions and 4.2 clearances per match (via WhoScored). Indeed, the clearances metric is significantly higher than that of current Blues centre-half Fikayo Tomori, currently averaging 2.5 per game.
Furthermore, Ake excels over Kurt Zouma for fouls conceded, averaging just 0.3 per game compared to Zouma’s 1.2.
As a result of this report and the aforementioned stats, it seems Blues fans weren’t particularly impressed that they’re backing off Ake. With that in mind, here’s how some Chelsea fans that reacted to the news below:
@RagingPhoneix says: “Big mistake on Frank’s part”.
@imbluefc says: “Far better than Zouma”.