Conte Reveals That He Did Not Want To Sell Defender But The Board Thought Otherwise

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Antonio Conte has revealed that he was against letting go of Nathan Ake but the management decided to sell him off.

Conte has received a fair bit of stick from many pundits and fans for letting go of the 22-year-old centre-back. But now Conte has claimed that it was not his decision. Ake joined the Blues back in 2011 from Feyenoord as a 16-year-old and last season was supposed to be his breakthrough year at Stamford Bridge. But instead, the club decided to let him go out on loan yet again – the 3rd of his Chelsea career. This time at Bournemouth though Ake showed exactly what he was capable of and was churning out fine performances. But his joy was short lived as Conte decided to call him back in January. This meant that the Belgian was once again deprived of game time and his growth was halted.

As the season came to an end Bournemouth approached Chelsea with an offer to make the loan deal permanent for a fee of £20 million. The Blues management immediately jumped on the offer and let Ake leave.

But now when Conte was asked about the transfer before his team visit the Vitality Stadium his reply was, “My answer is always the same. I can give my opinion to my club but then the last decision is for the club and this must be very clear. To play regularly is not simple. It means one between Cesar Azpilicueta, Gary Cahill or David Luiz doesn’t play.”

Chelsea take on AFC Bournemouth this Saturday at the Vitality Stadium and the Blues absolutely need to win this match if they want to have any hope of keeping their title defence hopes alive.

Read: Bournemouth vs Chelsea predicted line up.

Read: Chelsea to go after Arsenal striker in January?