Aston Villa look to rival Chelsea for Manchester City defender Nathan Ake

Aston Villa could rival Chelsea for Manchester City defender Nathan Ake this summer.

According to 90min, City have informed Ake he is free to leave the club, with a number of Premier Leaue sides - including Villa - interested in signing the Dutch centre-half.

Ake has been heavily linked with a return to his former club Chelsea, but Villa are also keen on the 27-year-old.

The report states that Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham are all considering bids for Ake, who has struggled to break into Pep Guardiola’s starting eleven during his time at the Etihad.

The Sun has reported that Newcastle were quoted a price of around £50 million when they made an approach to the Premier League champions for Ake earlier this summer, and it would no doubt take a substantial bid from Villa to land the Dutchman.

Gomez offer

Elsewhere, and Villa are also said to be ‘pressing on’ with a move for Liverpool star Joe Gomez.

The Lions were linked with the defender earlier in the window, but everything went quiet after it was claimed Gomez wouldn’t be leaving Anfield this summer.

According to The Daily Star, Villa are now preparing a £30million bid with the view of pressing ahead in their pursuit of Gomez.

That’s a little surprising, in that the Midlands club have already spend significantly to land another centre-back in Diego Carlos this summer.

It will be interesting to see how Liverpool, and indeed Gomez, respond.

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