Nathan Ake will remain a Manchester City player this season after Chelsea failed to reach an agreement over the fee.
Thomas Tuchel had been looking to make Ake the second City player to join his project this summer following the £47.5m move for Raheem Sterling, and Chelsea were in need of defensive reinforcements after seeing two centre-backs depart. Ake came through at Chelsea, although the club refused to challenge City in 2019 when they paid £41m to sign him from Bournemouth.
City were clear from the start that they would only accept a transfer if Chelsea came up with at least £50m and the Blues were able to line up a replacement, given Pep Guardiola did not want to leave himself with anything less than four senior centre-backs. Despite reports of confidence from Chelsea for weeks that they would do a deal, they have now walked away from talks after refusing to meet City's valuation.
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City are obviously delighted to keep the player and while Ake was open to a move the Dutchman has no issues with staying in a squad where he grew in importance last season after managing to steer clear of the injuries that stalled his first year in Manchester. The 27-year-old put in a number of excellent performances both in the middle of defence and at left-back that contributed towards City's success in the Premier League and progress in the Champions League.
City can now tend to their other business remaining in the transfer window, with left-back the biggest area for movement.
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