In Focus: Ak's back in XI and hoping for City revival

After a return to Chelsea failed to materialise for Nathan Ake this summer, the defender may have wondered what was next for him at Manchester City.

Since joining the Citizens for £41million in 2020, the 27-year-old Dutchman has spent much of his time in and out of Pep Guardiola’s side.

But with the Spanish boss seemingly blocking the switch to the Blues before selecting Ake in the Community Shield loss to Liverpool and the Premier League opener against West Ham, he will hope to now play a key role.

Ahead of another potential start against former club Bournemouth on Saturday, we turn the spotlight on the centre-back.

On the fringes

Three impressive seasons at the Cherries saw Ake earn a burgeoning reputation in England and following their relegation in the 2019-20 campaign, he looked nailed on to remain a top-flight player.

Comfortable on the ball and able to play out from the back, Guardiola stumped up £41m for his services — at the time making him the 10th most expensive defender ever.

Their No6 was a starter in City’s opening two games during the 2020-21 season but lost his place after a chaotic 5-2 defeat to Leicester.

With only 19 league starts across that campaign and the following one combined due to form, injuries and competition for places, it is fair to say his career in sky blue is yet to take off.

Feeling the Blues

That is why an exit looked likely and a return to former club Chelsea — whose academy he graduated through before leaving in 2017 — looked like a good move for him.

Manager Thomas Tuchel has been dealing with a raft of departures in central defence and Ake seemed the prime choice to fill Antonio Rudiger’s void on the left side.

The upcoming World Cup in Qatar was another motivation for the Netherlands international to seal regular first-team minutes this season.

But the Premier League champions refused to sanction the move, with Guardiola keen to keep him around at the Etihad due to his versatility at both centre-back and left-back.

Rather than sulk, Ake is now determined to make the grade under the Spanish tactician.

He recently said: "I'm very happy to be at the club and 100% focused.

"I will try to improve and make sure I get minutes, but my focus was not affected by the talk of a move.

"It was all in the holiday period anyway. When I arrived back at the club I was very happy to be there straight away and to see everyone.

"When I started training my head was 100% focused on City. It's all been good and I'm just ready to kick on."

Show of faith

Competition with the likes of Ruben Dias, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte at the back means Ake has had to wait patiently for his chance in City’s team.

But with surgery keeping Laporte out for the next month at least, an opportunity has opened up for Ake.

It is seemingly a two-man battle with Stones to partner Dias in defence and the early signs suggest Guardiola is leaning towards the Dutchman. 

Ake was in the XI for City’s Community Shield defeat to Liverpool before keeping his place for their 2-0 win over West Ham in their opening Premier League game.

He won all three of his aeriel duels against a physical Hammers side as well as claiming possession four times and completing two clearances to help the Citizens earn their clean sheet.

What is more, only Joao Cancelo completed passes more than the 99 Ake managed during the victory at the London Stadium.

His place to lose

Ake has arguably started the season as City’s best-performing defender and has certainly done enough to keep his place in the coming games.

He said: "Getting into the team has been the challenge since I've been here. We've got a very good squad so I’ll play anywhere.

"It's going to be a long season and I just want to be ready. Everyone wants to play, especially with the World Cup coming up."

While a promising start to the campaign, convincing Guardiola he is the long-term option in defence may prove a more difficult task. 

But with a run of more starts likely in the next few weeks, the time could be now for Ake to convince his boss he can be just that.