Nathan Ake’s time at Manchester City has hit new heights, with the Dutch defender becoming one of Pep Guardiola’s most important defenders.
The Chelsea academy graduate has made 21 Premier League appearances this season, 17 of which saw him start from the off, a huge improvement on the previous campaign where he only managed 14 league outings all season.
The first question is, what has changed to convince Guardiola that Ake can be a key part of his title-chasing side? We can start by going back to the summer when City recruited another centre-back, Manuel Akanji, meaning Ake had yet another obstacle to overcome in his bid for regular minutes. Also read: Man City have finally done what Guardiola wanted after World Cup The club sold Oleksandr Zinchenko before signing Spanish youngster Sergio Gomez.
Whenever Gomez has been handed minutes it has been clear to many that he has not been entirely up to speed. That's not to say he won’t adapt eventually, but he isn’t the man for the job just now.