Nathan Ake

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Solid back up to Laporte and cover at LB

Homegrown too

Txiki starting quickly for what looks like a busy summer, get the feeling everyone has been told to pull their finger out

now onto

First choice LB
First Choice Right CB
Striker
Back up GK

then ship out
Stones
Zinchenko
Otamendi
Maybe Jesus depending on the striker
 
Im really happy with this buy. He will be a good back up for Laporte.

Premier League and international experience.
Right age.
Perfect English
Physical, good speed.
Will contribute to corners in an attacking sense as well.
Wont expect to play week in week out but will still get the same amount of games he does for Bournemouth so we wont he ego issues.

£41 is a bit high but thats not a thing for me to worry about as a fan.
 
willipp said:
That would suggest he isnt very good in the air which isnt paticularly re assuring.
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Yeah, but we'll have 80% possession and we don't concede many goals from headers. At all. He'll deal with one or two set pieces a game? Some times never?

Aerial duels is a tricky one because that stat isn't just winning crosses, it's like winning balls in the middle of the park and stuff as well.
 
willipp said:
That would suggest he isnt very good in the air which isnt paticularly re assuring.
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You can't really compare because most of the aerial battles our defenders are in are in space. they punt up a long ball, our defenders have time and space to attack the ball.

With Bournemouth a lot more of it is back foot defending from standstill.
 
Del_Bosque said:
Solid back up to Laporte and cover at LB

Homegrown too

Txiki starting quickly for what looks like a busy summer, get the feeling everyone has been told to pull their finger out

now onto

First choice LB
First Choice Right CB
Striker
Back up GK

then ship out
Stones
Zinchenko
Otamendi
Maybe Jesus depending on the striker
Click to expand...

Steffan will probably be our back up goalie.
 
Initially I wasn't convinced whether Ake was the right option. This was my opinion from last year when we were first linked to about last month. Tbh, I made that judgement without properly studying Ake's game.

What I see with Ake are a lot of positives, actually. Sure, Bournemouth's defense has not been good and they have conceded a lot. The thing is that they would have conceded a ton more if not for Ake.

I've interacted with a few Bournemouth fans on Twitter (I know) and they all say that he's by far the best player on that team, true gentleman and leader as well.

As for what he can bring to City and why this is a fine potential transfer:
- Left footed
- Entering his prime
- Great recovery speed
- Good pace for a CB
- Disciplined
- Concentration
- Great open play ability
- Versatile
- Homegrown (?)

His big negative is that he has very poor aerial ability and would be a liability in set pieces.

But I feel the pros outweigh the cons heavily. His open play / build up ability will benefit us when Laporte needs a break. He offers recovery pace which is very important in a high line defensive system like ours. He offers positional versatility between LB and LCB.

Maybe we overpaid by 10M quid or so but if this goes through, I'd be pretty happy with Ake. I think he fills a lot of needs for us.
 
skyblues said:
No but tall players overall. I think height is super important to have as a central defender. That’s the only concern I have. He looks quality.
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What tall players?

Seriously, look around the league. How many strikers are 6ft 4 these days?
 
Good signing, think he'll be one of those players who really grows playing in a better team.
 
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