Yesterday Chelsea announced that one Nathan Ake has signed a five-year deal to stay on at the West London club.
The 18-year-old made six appearances for the senior team last season and expressed his delight after signing his new deal on the Blues’ official website.
Ake said:
“I’m very happy that Chelsea is rewarding me with a new contract for my effort and development the last years.
“I would like to thank everybody at the club for everything they did for me. Thanks to them I have come so far. I won’t let them down and will keep on working as hard as I can.”
The Dutchman is versatile enough to play in central defence, defensive midfield and fullback but I’d like to see him settle in the midfield as that’s where he seems the most useful to me and it’s a position he enjoys playing, so is arguably the best place for him in terms of his development.
A loan spell at partner club Vitesse Arnhem could be a good move for him but I’m sure most fans would prefer he either stayed at Stamford Bridge and play for Dermot Drummy’s Under-21s (filling in as a senior squad member when needed) or going to another Premier League club in order to find first-team experience, but the latter could prove difficult and he’d probably have to go into the Championship to play regularly.
In my opinion he should remain at Chelsea this season as I believe he needs one more year to qualify as a home-grown player under Premier League rules and if he stays at his parent club he’ll achieve club-trained status under the rules of UEFA competitions.
The club are obviously keen on the work he has done and he’s impressed enough to earn such a long contract. Let’s hope he has a bright future ahead of him.
Source: ChelseaFC.com
