Chelsea is not missing out on Nathan Ake’s transfer

Nathan Ake is on the verge of joining Manchester City. Some Chelsea fans wanted him in a different shade of blue, but the club is not missing out.

With some players, it is simply a matter of timing. As Nathan Ake was coming up through the ranks at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho was manager. Little chance of a break through there. After doing well in the Premier League on loan, he was recalled under Antonio Conte’s management. But he was not the left wing back needed and he could not unseat any of the three center backs in a title winning campaign. A loan with an option to buy from Bournemouth seemed the best solution for all parties.

Since then, Ake has done well for himself at Bournemouth. Chelsea always had that buy back clause in case they needed it. Conte would not. Maurizio Sarri may have been able to use a player like Ake, but he was more focused on bringing in players that already knew his “intricate” system. And Frank Lampard only had one window before this one to consider Ake and seemingly decided to look elsewhere.

Now Ake looks set to leave the recently relegated Bournemouth for Manchester City. That has sparked a ripple (not necessarily a wave) among some Blues fans about how the Blues are missing out. The club isn’t missing out on anything though. If Ake was to be a Chelsea player, he would have been one by now. The club is simply passing on a player that the timing was never right for at Chelsea.

Much of this is due to it being pretty clear Chelsea needs to do something to stop the goals from leaking in. Ake would have been a cheap option that grew in the club’s system for many years. But Ake is not exactly the defensive stalwart that the Blues seem to be looking for. None of his stats standout from the players Chelsea already has in their back line. Furthermore, if Chelsea is truly targeting Declan Rice, then Rice does stand out better than Ake in nearly every category. Mind, Rice played a great deal of his minutes in midfield rather than at the back.

What Ake would have offered would have been versatility. He can play center back (in a back four and back three seamlessly), left back, and in midfield if required. That does seem to be the profile of player Chelsea is looking at but Rice, again, can also do those things. Comparatively, the only thing Ake really offered against Rice was being much cheaper.

Chelsea, however, is not worried about money this season. Beyond that, they are not looking to buy players to plug holes; they are looking to buy players that immediately improve the squad. Rice can make a strong case for doing so. Ake simply cannot.

None of this is to say Ake will not be successful at Manchester City; he surely will be. He seems like a perfect player for Guardiola given his positional fluidity and ability on the ball. But that would not have been the case at Chelsea. At Chelsea, he would have been a square peg in a round hole.

That was determined back in January when the club avoided signing the Dutchman. If the transfer back to Chelsea was ever going to happen, that was the moment. There was a time where Ake could have been the player the Blues needed, but the timing was never made right to make it happen. The club moves on.