The Daily Star has been reporting that both Man United and Tottenham are lining up January bids for AFCB star player Nathan Aké. It's not been a regular occurrence for any of the top six clubs to come calling on AFCB players, but with the start to the season that Bournemouth have had it's only natural that opposition managers are taking a closer look at AFCB's players and wondering if they can entice them to play for a bigger club.
Nathan is a proven Premier League player and now a Dutch international player that could well go on to become a world class defender. He has tasted the high-life with Chelsea and rejected the sidelines there for a regular starting spot with the Cherries. He may believe he is good enough to hold down a place at Spurs or Man United, but can AFCB afford to hold off a bidding war between two of the Premier League's elite sides who want one of their players?
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I'm sure any initial bids would be flatly rejected by when the club is looking for finance to build training pitches and a new stadium, the kinds of sums of money involved for signing a player like Nathan Aké would be a discussion point for the AFCB board. The shareholders of AFCB though have stated that they wanted to give Howe the players to stay in the Premier League, rather than risk it on infrastructure and possible relegation at this stage. So, can we feel safe in that no AFCB player that Eddie and the board doesn't want to sell in January will leave the club?
I imagine the waters could be tested this January and it might take some real nerve to hold out against the spending power of the top clubs who know what they want, and have the power to perhaps offer player exchange deals as well as money to land Nathan Aké.
With AFCB already being ever closer linked with Brentford's Chris Mepham, I wonder if Aké is already on his way? Nathan signed a long term contract with Bournemouth in 2017 which perhaps takes him to 2021 or 2022, but AFCB may have to think about increasing his wages to hold off the likes of Man Utd and Spurs.
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| Nathan Aké has become a sort after defender. |
Eddie Howe has always said it is a good thing if his players are being talked about as targets for other teams, as they have to be doing things right. But an approach for Nathan Aké would be a major road block in his plans to make AFCB a Premier League side that can regularly feature in the top half of the table.
Nathan is a proven Premier League player and now a Dutch international player that could well go on to become a world class defender. He has tasted the high-life with Chelsea and rejected the sidelines there for a regular starting spot with the Cherries. He may believe he is good enough to hold down a place at Spurs or Man United, but can AFCB afford to hold off a bidding war between two of the Premier League's elite sides who want one of their players?
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I imagine the waters could be tested this January and it might take some real nerve to hold out against the spending power of the top clubs who know what they want, and have the power to perhaps offer player exchange deals as well as money to land Nathan Aké.
With AFCB already being ever closer linked with Brentford's Chris Mepham, I wonder if Aké is already on his way? Nathan signed a long term contract with Bournemouth in 2017 which perhaps takes him to 2021 or 2022, but AFCB may have to think about increasing his wages to hold off the likes of Man Utd and Spurs.
Pay him whatever he wants! Absolutely sensational this season. Dont think Eddie will let anyone go in January, but I think we'll probably lose him in the summer. Unless we're in the Champions League of course!
ReplyDeleteI think the idea is to bring in Mepham to be Ake's partner. With Lemar Cook and young Brooks and the wee man .
ReplyDeleteHowe is building a young classy spine for the team with a long term outlook.