Chelsea have a buy-back clause in Tottenham target Nathan Ake’s deal at Bournemouth.
With Jan Vertonghen now 32 and out of contract at the end of the season, he could be coming to the end of the line as a Tottenham Hotspur player.
The Belgian has spent more than seven years in North London, but with some shaky displays this season, there’s a strong chance that he will move on next summer.
If he does, Spurs should be looking for a left-footed centre back to take his place. Vertonghen brings great balance to the Tottenham defence, and landing a like-for-like replacement is key.
One player who fits the bill is Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake, and The Sun reported over the summer that Spurs wanted to land the Dutch international to bolster their back line, though no move materialised.
Ake is quick, talented on the ball, a goal threat and surprisingly strong in the air despite only standing at 5ft 11in tall, and at 24, he has the best years of his career ahead of him.
However, the lingering problem for Spurs is their London rivals Chelsea. They put a £40million buy-back clause in Ake’s deal when they sold him in 2017, and The Telegraph claim they’re interested in activating that clause in 2020.
Bournemouth demanding £75million from every other team is another problem for Spurs, and they’ve been dealt a huge blow by Chelsea advisor Piet de Visser.
De Visser has told De Volkskrant that Ake is ‘crazy about Chelsea’ and hopes Chelsea bring him back, highlighting how boss Frank Lampard played with Ake during his time at Stamford Bridge as a player.
It sounds like, if Ake is tasked with the choice of another team or returning to Chelsea, he will look to go for the unfinished business in West London – and that could see an ideal Vertonghen replacement slip away from Tottenham and head to their big rivals instead, with Lampard having a huge upper hand with Ake’s love for the Blues and that bargain release clause.
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