Nathan Ake refuses to rule out Man City transfer exit after rejecting move to West Ham

Описание: NATHAN AKE refused to rule out a January exit from Manchester City as he sweats on his World Cup place.

The £21m-rated Dutch international defender, 30, has slipped down the pecking order under Pep Guardiola and has just entered the final 18 months of his contract.

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Nathan Ake’s Man City future remains up in the airCredit: Getty

Ake made just his third Premier League start of the season as City were held to a stalemate at Sunderland.

But the ex-Bournemouth star is desperate for more action and has been linked with a return to his old club while Crystal Palace and Barcelona are also keen.

And when quizzed on his future, he said: “The only thing I can say is I keep fighting every time. You want to play every game.

“I’m not going to say I should play every game because Ruben [Dias], Josko [Gvardiol], Nico [O’Reilly] and the whole defence have been doing fantastic but every player wants to get minutes.

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“So the only thing I can do is fight and try to get opportunities like today and we will see in the future what happens.”

Ake, who cost £40m from the Cherries in 2020, has already turned down West Ham’s advances due to not wanting to join a team in relegation trouble.

But if he wants to secure his seat on the plane to next summer’s showpiece, then he has to start getting more minutes according to his national boss Ronald Koeman.

Ake added: “He has said to me a few times actually that he wants me to play more and sometimes it is difficult to call me up if I don’t play a lot. That’s obvious.

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“Every player wants to play as much as possible while also appreciating that the team is doing really well and the players in my position are doing really well so I have to keep going and wait for chances.”

Until he gets his exit, Ake remains focused on trying to claim a fifth title with the Cityzens.

And despite their six-match winning streak coming to an end at Sunderland, he is confident they can bounce back with a similar run to close the four-point gap on leaders Arsenal.

Ake, who hopes to shake off a slight knee scare from the Stadium of the Light to face Chelsea tomorrow, said: “We know we are able to do it.

“It’s good to see players coming back from injury, the team getting more depth. We’re going to fight and keep going.

“We know it’s a long way to go, we’ve been in more difficult positions and have always kept going so we have to do the same now.” Nathan Ake refuses to rule out Man City transfer exit after rejecting move to West Ham.