Soccer Football - Club World Cup - Semi Final - Urawa Red Diamonds v Manchester City - King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia - December 19, 2023 Manchester City's Nathan Ake in action REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Crystal Palace are considering a swoop for Manchester City defender Nathan Ake next summer. The Eagles will have a hole to fill once skipper Marc Guehi makes his long anticipated departure from the club when his contract expires at season’s end.
TeamTalk has reported that Palace could look to Ake to fill that void, adding that City will give serious consideration to selling the four-time Premier League winner. Ake has found himself on the fringes of Pep Guardiola’s first team for much of this season so far, starting just one game out of ten.
The Dutchman’s contract will enter the final year once next summer’s transfer window arrives, so City will likely be planning for life after his departure in any case. Palace were interested in Ake last summer as well, while the club were in discussions with Liverpool about a deal for Guehi.
Neither move ultimately developed, but could reignite at a later time.
Palace keen on Ake
Palace were also linked with Ake’s former City teammate Manuel Akanji over the summer, but the latter instead joined Inter Milan on loan. The Eagles have since switched gears to Ake who has also reportedly caught the eye of Newcastle, Everton, and West Ham.
City boss Pep Guardiola has favored Ruben Dias, John Stones, and Josko Gvardiol over Ake in the centre half positions this season. The same can be said of last January’s signing Abdukodir Khusanov, who is currently close to returning from injury.
City face Bournemouth at home on Sunday looking to bounce back from last week’s disappointing loss to Aston Villa. They sit 5th in the table, six points behind high flying Arsenal.
Palace were unbeaten for much of the season, but have since hit a patch of indifferent form. They face Brentford at home on Saturday off the back of an impressive 3-0 rout of Liverpool in Wednesdays’s EFL Cup round of 16 clash.
They sit 10th in the table but only 4 points off the top four places.
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