Nathan Ake has been hanging around the first team squad for years without ever quite securing a place in it. He popped up a couple of times in Rafael Benitez's side during the 2012/13 season, making his Premier League debut at a mere 17 years old on the boxing day fixture against Norwich before going on to make his first start for the club against Rubin Kazan in the Europa League. Most of his first team appearances to date have been in the holding midfield position, where his composure and reading of the game - being another reformed centre-back - ally with his natural skills on the ball to make him a perfect fit for the role. However, given the abundance of midfield options Chelsea have at first and youth team level, Mourinho seems to have earmarked him as his second choice left-back for the season ahead, handing him the No.6 shirt as a vote of confidence. It's not a role he has extensive experience in but did offer some impressive showings in pre-season, even if he did occasionally find himself caught out. The risk for him is that his versatility may see him shuffled across the field without ever settling on one definite position: he's not really strong enough in the air to play centre-back, has a lot of outstanding competition for his natural defensive midfield role and will need to adapt quickly if he's to settle in on the left, where he probably has the best chance of making his mark. He's got Ruud Gullit's hair, though, so that's one little victory in the bag already.
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
