Tottenham Hotspur were linked with a £40million move for AFC Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake over the weekend by The Sun.
The defender has been highlighted as a potential replacement for Toby Alderweireld this summer, should a club, such as Manchester United, look to activate the £25m release clause he has in his contract.
Now, Ake is a good defender and definitely one that looks to improve year upon year with his performances. There is also no doubting that he is a player that Mauricio Pochettino would love to have in his side and could potentially thrive.
However, is he a player that we can justify the need to spend £40m on? It would be difficult to think that is the case.
With Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth already in the ranks, adding another young centre-back for that amount of money does not make sense at the moment, even if Alderweireld were to leave us this summer.
Surely, one of the South American’s would be able to step up and replace him in the side and look comfortable doing so.
Ake might have all the qualities of becoming a top individual in the future, however, he lacks certain traits at the present moment and surely a leader is the type of player we will need to sign if the Belgian goes.
Although he is not solely to blame for this, the fact that Bournemouth conceded the third most amount of goals in the Premier League last season should be a cause for concern.
Admittedly, he would have better players with him, however as mentioned, he is an individual yet to reach the top of his game and is one that might have to be considered a rather expensive risk.
Perhaps Spurs would be better off looking at solving other areas of the pitch? Maybe a defensive midfielder should be on their radar instead.