Manchester City look to have made a breakthrough in their pursuit of Nathan Ake as Bournemouth accept £41m bid for the Dutch defender.
This is according to SkySports, who claim that an agreement has been reached between both clubs. The deal is now subject to the agreement of personal terms and of course, a medical.
Fresh from reaching an agreement with Spanish side Valencia for the transfer of Ferran Torres, the Citizens have wasted no time in the acquisition of their next target.
Chelsea had a buy-back option on Ake who they sold to Dean Court in 2017 but have opted not to exert it as Frank Lampard looks elsewhere in search of defensive additions.
A much-needed defensive reinforcement
It is no secret that Pep Guardiola’s men failed to defend their title due to their fragility at the back. According to Understat, the Citizens had the lowest xGA of any team in the Premier League last season.
What this means is that ideally, they should have conceded the least number of goals in the just-concluded season. However, the absence of Aymeric Laporte, coupled with errors made by those who filled in his stead ended up costing City too many avoidable goals which ultimately cost them their crown.
As Pep Guardiola prepares to compete for the title next season, he knows his defence is of utmost priority as the attack was as ruthless as ever last season.
City ended the campaign on 102 goals which was 17 more than eventual champions Liverpool.
Where would he fit in?
Ake has shown his versatility in the last couple of seasons. He primarily plays as the left-sided one of the two centre-backs.
This happens to be the position Aymeric Laporte also plays so it’ll be interesting to see what happens there. Ake is also a useful option at left-back although it is unlikely he will feature there prominently due to the presence of Benjamin Mendy and Zinchenko.
One thing for sure is that Manchester City are not messing around in the summer window as they look to return to the apex of English football next season.
