With pictures of Paul Pogba arriving in Turin by private jet – he was probably just trying to ensure his luggage got there – and reports that Nathan Ake is on his way to Chelsea....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
What is noticeable with both of those moves – and of course with Romelu Lukaku’s loan to Inter Milan – is they’re all already familiar with their new surroundings. Or to put it another way, if you had ‘AKE’ on the back of your Chelsea shirt, you could soon be digging it out again!
Footballers coming home is not a new idea. For Lukaku and Pogba, it’s the return of the conquering heroes. Much like Ronaldo at Old Trafford. Although fans of Inter and Juve will hope they stick around a little longer than Cristiano wants to.
For Ake, though, he arrived at Stamford Bridge from Feyenoord as a schoolboy player. And was gone a few years later with barely half a dozen first team games to his name. Moving on to Bournemouth for £20million.
Which is very decent money. But barely half of what’s being suggested Chelsea are prepared to pay to bring him back. So you might well be asking, should they even have sold him in the first place?
I think the answer is yes. First of all, because it’s what they do at Stamford Bridge. Develop first teamers and breed cash cows. Either way, young players get a top class education.
Secondly, as a result of letting the Dutchman go, Ake not only had a lovely time honing his game down on the South Coast. He then spent two full years up in Manchester sharpening it even more under the watchful gaze of Pep Guardiola.
Meaning Chelsea would effectively be paying around 20 million quid for all of that learning. Which sounds to me a small price to pay to bring Nathan home to west London.
