Fenerbahce announced on Friday that they had agreed a deal to sign Manchester City defender Nathan Ake
Fenerbahce sensationally announced the signing of Nathan Ake from Manchester City on Friday – before a deal had been agreed. The two clubs are in talks over a transfer but have not yet finalised the details.
Given the confidence of the Turkish club, the move is expected to happen this summer to bring an end to Ake’s six years at the Etihad. A fee of around £7m, potentially rising to £8.5m, has been talked about in discussions between the clubs.
However, there is still work to be done on the transfer and there will have been bemusement in Manchester on Friday that a deal had been announced. The Fenerbahce statement read: “Our club has reached an agreement with Nathan Aké, a player of the Netherlands National Team, and has signed a contract with the footballer.
“The player, who wore the Netherlands jersey in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, will join our team in the Austria camp following the permission process. We present this to the information of the public.”
Ake’s departure will leave City with four senior centre-backs following the exit of John Stones on a free transfer. Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi are still a formidable quartet of centre-backs, yet they will need to be bolstered by Enzo Maresca to ensure the Blues have the numbers to compete in multiple competitions.
That could come in the form of returning Brazilian defender Vitor Reis, who spent the year on loan with Girona. Homegrown centre-back Max Alleyne is another option, having answered an emergency call from City in January and terminating his loan at Watford in order to make his debut for the Blues.
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