Chelsea manager, Antonio Conte, has admitted he is considering recalling Nathan Ake from his loan spell at Bournemouth.

The 21-year-old defender has started in eight of the Cherries’ last nine matches – he was not eligible to face the Blues.

Conte has been impressed with Ake and could decided to activate the call-back clause inserted in the deal which took him to Bournemouth.

“Ake is a really good player and now in the last games he has started to play with Bournemouth and is playing every game,” Conte said.

“Honestly, I’m evaluating his situation, because Ake could be an interesting opportunity in this window for us.”

Bournemouth manager, Eddie Howe, has however admitted that Ake’s return is almost done.

“It looks like that will be the case,” Howe said.

“It’s not 100 per cent finalised yet. “It’s easier said than done to say we are going to recruit a player in similar stature to Nathan and I’m not sure there’s too many out there.

“So that’s going to be a difficult one for us, but we will assess our options and try and make the right decisions.”