'Mr Versatile' Nathan Ake becoming even more vital for Pep Guardiola's Man City

Manchester City defender Nathan Ake has become Pep Guardiola's 'Mr Versatile'.

The Dutchman signed in the summer of 2020 from Bournemouth for £41million, following their relegation to the Championship. However in his first two seasons at the Etihad he has struggled for consistent first-team football, due to the quality and depth of City’s squad.

He has made 22 appearances in the league for City and 18 in the Champions League in total. He excelled in the Wanda Metropolitano when he came on for the final 20 minutes in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid in a fiery and heated game. Ake kept his head and helped City progress to the next round.

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Prior to Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Brighton earlier this month, Guardiola hailed the defender as “exceptional”. He said: “He is so reliable. In the bad phases he is always helping. When he doesn’t get the minutes he deserves and then gets the minutes, he's thinking about the other ones and has done well.

“He is an exceptional person. The older I get, the more aware of this kind of behaviour I am. Your life is better when you behave like this.”

When Ake has featured in the Premier League, since he joined he has averaged 2.14 points per game. He featured in all five of City’s FA Cup games this season prior to the defeat to Liverpool in the semi-final.

Ake has also been a versatile player for Guardiola this year with him also filling in at left back on different occasions due to injuries or suspension to Joao Cancelo and Aleks Zinchenko. Last season he featured ten times in the league helping goalkeeper Ederson to win his second golden glove award in a row.

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