Tottenham in race for Ake: Defoe urged Spurs to sign him in 2020

Tottenham are one of six Premier League clubs reportedly in the race for Manchester City defender Nathan Ake – a player Jermain Defoe urged Spurs to sign from Bournemouth back in 2020.

Ake, 27, has struggled to have an impact at Manchester City since joining the club from Bournemouth in 2020. Just 40 appearances have come his way – owing to injury and competition from John Stones, Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte.

Reports state that Spurs are firmly in the race to sign the Netherlands international. However, the North London club have competition from five other top-tier sides in Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham, Villa and Bournemouth.

Previous claims say that Chelsea are keen to bring him back with City holding out for a permanent fee of £50million. The likes of West Ham, Villa and Bournemouth might be looking at a loan deal for the ex-Blues star.

Speaking about Ake back in 2020 before his move to Manchester City, Spurs icon Defoe told the Beautiful Game podcast that he would love to see the Dutch defender join Spurs. He thinks Ake is “really brave”.

“I would love to see him at Tottenham you know,” Defoe said. “He’s got so much potential. Coming from Chelsea it was difficult to get in the team there. He went to Watford, and Bournemouth paid a big fee for him.

“He’s technically good, Dutch players always are. Scores a lot of goals from set-pieces, he is really brave which is good. One of the nicest guys I’ve met in football, you’d even let him date your sister.”