Pranav Nair
Manchester City close in on Manchester United target Nathan Ake
According to the Express, Manchester City are closing in on a move for Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake.
The Dutch international, who joined the Cherries from Chelsea in 2017, has made a name for himself as one of the best left-footed centre-backs in the league.
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was seen talking to Ake following our 5-2 win over Bournemouth. This fuelled rumours that the Norwegian is keen on the Cherries ace.
However, it looks to have been in vain as City are closing in on a £35million deal for the 25-year-old.
The arrival of Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka has considerably improved our defence. It would, however, be biased to say that we are now ready to compete against the best.
Errors aplenty!
Maguire, for all his traits, has an error in him. His deficiencies have been brought to the fore against top-quality opposition. His preferred partner Victor Lindelof has improved but has not reached the levels expected of him.
The Swede was criticized by Solskjaer for his inability to get the better of Olivier Giroud in the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday. Unfortunately, the United defence needs further strengthening before we can count ourselves ready to be called genuine title challengers.
It is debatable if Ake is the man to strengthen us at the back. With Bournemouth looking set to go down, he looks set to move, making his availability a high possibility.
Chelsea are believed to have a buy-back clause that can see them take the Dutchman back to Stamford Bridge. Whether they intend to trump City or not remains to be seen.
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United have shown a lot of promise in recent months. The fact, however, remains that we are just one defensive mistake away from being undone.
The likes of Maguire, Lindelof and even David de Gea have come under the scanner in recent months. What Solskjaer intends to do about it remains to be seen.
