Last season, Bournemouth had Nathan Ake on loan from Chelsea until he was recalled by his owners, much to the anguish of many fantasy football managers. Whilst at Bournemouth, the 22 year old managed 10 appearances, scoring three goals and leaving a strong impression amongst the Cherries fans.
That said it was no surprise to see Bournemouth make Nathan Ake a summer transfer target and they got their man, for a fee expected to be a club record around £20 million, exceeding the £15 million paid for Jordan Ibe last summer. Eddie Howe has been quoted saying:
“He is someone we know all about, having had a very successful loan spell here last season. Nathan is an outstanding young player with a fantastic attitude and a great desire to learn and develop.”
Fantasy Football Potential
When the young Dutchman was in the Bournemouth side last season, he appeared to make a real difference, not only defensively, but also offensively. Between gameweek 12 and gameweek 20, Ake managed to play 90 minutes on eight occasions, before he was recalled by Chelsea. During that time however, he managed to score an impressive tally of 49 points, giving him an average of 6.1 points per game, which when he was priced at just 4.3m, made him a bargain to say the least!
This season however it is highly unlikely that he will start the season anywhere near this price and will most likely start the season around the 5.0m marker instead. It is likely that Nathan will will replace the ageing Simon Francis, who is now 32 years of age and did start to look out of his depth last season.
Last season only 4 teams conceded more goals than Bournemouth and managed to keep just 10 clean sheets during the campaign, 3 of which were obtained whilst Ake was on the field. Winning 63% of his tackles last season, Ake could help improve this clean sheet potential and make the Bournemouth back line a viable option in your fantasy teams.
Considering Bournemouth’s start, Nathan Ake or other Bournemouth cover could be a good option as they start with West Brom (A) and Watford (H) in gameweeks 1 and 2. It does then get a bit tougher with games against Man City (H) and Arsenal (A), but then they do host Brighton (H) in gameweek 5. Dependant on price, Ake could find himself in quite a few fantasy teams, however if he does find himself at 5.5m rather than 5.0m, then the likes of Charlie Daniels, Steve Cook, Adam Smith and even Asmir Begovic could be better options.
If you have enjoyed this early view of the fantasy potential of those moving teams this transfer window, be sure to check the others here.
Written by Jacob (@JacobJull)
