Chelsea are reportedly in pole position to seal the transfer return of Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake ahead of rivals Manchester City.
Although City are reported to be interested in Ake, Chelsea also want him back at Stamford Bridge and were sure to insert a £40million buy-back clause into his deal when they sold him to Bournemouth in 2017, according to Sky Sports.
MORE: Video: Cesar Azpilicueta scores brilliant header for Chelsea vs Lille
This surely puts the Blues in a very strong position, unless the player himself is for whatever reason absolutely keen not to move back to his old club and try a new challenge.
City could certainly do with persuading Ake to move to the Etihad Stadium instead, with Pep Guardiola’s side enduring a difficult recent slump in form.
Vincent Kompany’s summer departure has hit the club hard, as has the injury to Aymeric Laporte that leaves them very light in defence.
This has allowed Liverpool to move 14 points ahead of them in the league table, making it a near-impossible task now for City to win the title for a third year in a row.
Chelsea, meanwhile, lost David Luiz and Gary Cahill in the summer and could not make signings ahead of this season due to their transfer ban.
However, that has now been lifted and Ake makes sense as a target to strengthen Frank Lampard’s squad due to the unconvincing form of the likes of Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen.