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Quite a few eyebrows were raised when Chelsea decided to let Ryan Bertrand leave on loan, as that left the club with only three regular fullbacks in the first team squad. One of the potential options to provide cover for those fullbacks is Nathan Ake, and his agent has confirmed that Jose Mourinho has no intention of letting him leave on loan this season (via @TheWSNetwork):
"Mourinho sees Ake a potential player for the first time. They definitely do not want to let him go."
Does this mean Ake is going to see significant time with the first team this spring? Probably not, as there are certainly better options available at every position he plays. He's certainly valuable depth though, especially if the Blues end up shipping out Michael Essien and Tomas Kalas this spring.
Hopefully we'll see more youngsters given appearances on the Chelsea bench as the season wears on, but I'd also hope that we don't have many meaningless games or an injury crisis which leads to many youth starts. Regardless though, it's nice to see another name added to the list of youngsters that has impressed Jose Mourinho.
