Bournemouth’s relegation from the Premier League has already led to them selling off one of their prized assets, centre-back Nathan Ake. The Dutchman, who cost Bournemouth £20.5 million from Chelsea, will move to the Cityzens for £41m this summer.
Ake becomes Manchester City’s 12th defender to be signed under manager Pep Guardiola’s watch. Guardiola’s summer spending on defenders has become an annual event. The Cityens manager has now paid over £365m on defenders alone since joining the club in 2016.
Thank you for everything gaffa🙏🏾🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/8vumcGFK8x— Nathan Aké (@NathanAke) August 2, 2020
Thank you for everything gaffa🙏🏾🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/8vumcGFK8x
The new arrival will have the chance to step into the heart of Manchester City’s defence from the start. John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi were on the outs with Guardiola after their abysmal performance against Norwich City in September.
The defensive duo was at fault for Norwich City’s goals as the Canaries won 3-2. Now, Guardiola hopes Ake can be the glue in defence that helps Aymeric Laporte keep goals out and brings another league title to the club.
However, upon news of the signing, pundits have already poked holes in Ake’s defensive abilities. From being left-footed to the low number of passes played per 90 minutes, Ake has been critised by some onlookers.
In spite of the issues Ake has as a player, the signing should be far better than any defensive acquisition Guardiola has made since Laporte. Ake is a proven Premier League defender. Although he was part of a side that got relegated, Ake has the skills to fit in and upgrade the Manchester City defence.
The centre-back played 29 league games in 2019-20 averaging 1.1 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game. He also made just 0.3 fouls per fixture. Remarkably, Ake tallied only two yellow cards during the Premier League season.
It was a brilliant mark for a centre-back especially a player playing in one of the three worst teams in the division. The weak area that some critics have looked at is Ake’s passing. He averaged just 41.7 passes per game and competed 87.6% of those passes.
He will be required to make more passes per game than that 41.7 average passes at Manchester City. In addition, Ake will need to be even more of a ball playing presence in the heart of Manchester’s defence than he was at Bournemouth.
Ake should thrive at Manchester City. He won’t be under as much pressure throughout the game and his defensive partner – Laporte – will make him even better. Ake will play from day No. 1 and should fit right into defence alongside Laporte.