It would be easy for Nathan Aké to not like Chelsea very much anymore after six years of loans and waiting and lack of opportunities, but if his very nice farewell message is any indication, he does not harbor resentment towards the team that plucked him out of the Eredivisie oh so many moon ago.
“Looking back to some great achievements during my six years at Chelsea. I would like to thank everyone at the club, my teammates for all they have done for me and of course most of all the fans for their amazing support over the years. Moving on to a next chapter now but grateful for all that I have learned here. Thank you to [Key Sports Management].”
When Chelsea recalled Aké from Bournemouth in January, we looked at it as a sign of good things to come not just for the youngster himself, but for the team’s more sensible utilization of the loan system. Alas, that did not come to pass in this case, with Aké making only a handful of appearances, but hopefully it did set a precedent of sorts.
The other precedent we’ve been trying to set is utilizing buy-back clauses, which several reports have assured does exist in this case. There are no details available about it at the moment, but any buy-back clause would require good relations between club and departing player, which in this case, does seem to be the case. So that bodes well for the future, both for us and for young Nathan, should he indeed live up to his hefty transfer fee on the South Coast.