Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley has claimed that the Blues’ pursuit of Manchester City defender Nathan Ake “smacks a little bit of desperation”, as Thomas Tuchel aims to rebuild his back-line with the acquisition of the Dutchman. A fee of £45million has been discussed for Ake to return to Stamford Bridge, after leaving the club for Bournemouth in 2017.
With Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen leaving Chelsea for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively, Ake has been one name mentioned as a possible replacement but Burley was not enthused about the possible signing. “I know Chelsea need centre-halves,” Burley told ESPN. “But if it’s the pond they are fishing in for third or fourth-choice players at that price, that kind of smacks of a little bit of desperation at the moment.”
Burley was joined by former Manchester City defender Nedum Onouha on the panel, and he admitted while the reported fee was high it is the price that must be paid for players at the top end of the market. “Nathan Ake did very well for City in the last season or two,” Onouha said.
“As is the case with a lot of players in that squad, they are all good enough to be able to play in the Premier League but you can only pick 11 and it’s a squad of 25, so you are leaving some real good players on the bench.
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