Nathan Ake’s switch to Manchester City is complete but will he be the perfect man to provide depth for Pep Guardiola’s defence?
As usual with Manchester City, the purchase was a quick process. The 25-year-old joins the Cityzens from AFC Bournemouth in a £41 million deal to come in and improve the Citizens defence.
Comfortable on the ball, he should fit Manchester City’s playing style like a glove. He’s capable of playing both in the centre and on the left of defence, so his versatility will be a bonus for Pep Guardiola. However, now the question stands to whether he can take the opportunity presented to him in Manchester.
He’s been comfortably Bournemouth’s best defender since moving to the South Coast. Working in Eddie Howe’s forward-thinking system, his technical ability has been vital to their transition play.
This is bared out in his statistics from this season, with the Dutchman completing 88.1% of his passes.
Another positive for Guardiola is being able to find a target from range. His long passes are reaching their target 81.9% of the time, meaning he’ll be perfect for initiating counter-attacks.
There are, however, flaws in his game. His aerial ability is for a top Premier League centre-back, not good enough.
Winning only 52.5% of his aerial duels, he may struggle in a higher line against long-ball tactics.
Given the difficulties Manchester City have had with these sort of tactics, if he has a vulnerable left-back next to him, there could be a weakness.
