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The Daily Star reports that Manchester United have identified a primary January target in Bournemouth’s £40m-rated star Nathan Ake.
What’s the story?
With the Red Devils’ defensive woes on full display against Newcastle at the weekend, they are in search of a centre-back and think they have found the ideal player in Ake.
Eddie Howe certainly won’t want to lose the Dutchman however, given he has played a key role to their rise to sixth in the Premier League standings heading into the latest international break.
Netherlands international Ake signed for the Cherries from Chelsea for £20m in 2017 following an impressive loan spell the season before, and he has been a somewhat unsung hero ever since.
However, his performances have not gone unnoticed by Jose Mourinho, who wants to bring him to Old Trafford to plug a leaky defence.
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Why must Howe keep hold of him?
Nathan Ake has been a rock at the back for Bournemouth so far, the Premier League calculates his tackling success at 80%, his best rate in the Premier League to date, and he was voted as the man of the match against Palace on October 1. He has also led the backline well and played with maturity, despite being one of the younger memners of the defence.
The fact he is still on the right side of 25 means that there’s plenty of scope for improvement and if south coast outfit can remain in the top half come the end of the season, there will be much higher expectations for them next season.
Having young players like Ake means that Howe and co can be confident of success in not just the short, but long term too.
Bournemouth’s strong spine of Steve Cook and Ake at the back, with Jefferson Lerma just in front, allows their flair players such as David Brooks to express themselves and counter effectively.
It’s been working almost flawlessly so far and even if United move for Ake, the Cherries must rebuff their advances.
