“I am extremely happy with him” – Pep Guardiola issues huge personal and professional praise on Manchester City defender | OneFootball

Manchester City defender Nathan Ake has been at the centre of huge personal and professional praise from manager Pep Guardiola.

The Dutchman has endured a stellar stay at the Etihad Stadium thus far since making a big-money move from AFC Bournemouth during the summer transfer window of 2020 in a deal reported to be worth around £41 million.

Winning everything available to win with Pep Guardiola and Manchester City in that time, Ake has established himself as a dependable option for the Catalan coach at both left-back and in the centre of defence.

But it is both the player and the human being that has attracted huge levels of praise from his manager this week, who has been keen to admit his ‘extreme’ happiness at having Nathan Ake as part of his Manchester City squad.

Speaking during a recent conversation with Dutch media outlet Ziggo Sport, Pep Guardiola explained that in the case of Ake, he has the ‘person behind the player’, offering the highest praise on a personal note for the Netherlands international defender.

“As a manager, you want to look for the person behind a player as well as the players. I have that with Nathan (Ake). I am extremely happy with him,” Guardiola said, as translated and relayed by Get Football.

The Manchester City manager continued, “I don’t think you can ever find a single teammate of his who has anything bad to say about him. Both at his clubs and with the Dutch national team.

“He’s very competitive and I wish he could play a season without injuries, but sometimes you run into those kinds of things. I adore him as a person and as a player.”

Amid recent performance struggles from Josko Gvardiol in the Manchester City line-up, there remains a possibility that Ake could re-enter the left-back role for the club’s next contest away to Liverpool at Anfield this weekend.

However, fitness problems and concerns in the centre of defence could mean that Ake could start in that role too, as Ruben Dias continues to work towards full match sharpness and John Stones is believed to be sidelined through a new injury concern of his own.

December’s relentless fixture schedule will test Manchester City to their maximum limits in terms of quality and personnel, with a number of high-profile clashes upcoming against the likes of Manchester United, as well as Aston Villa and Crystal Palace away from home.