MX23RW : Wednesday, March 6 01:19:54

Ake was 'broken' after Mourinho dropped him from Chelsea's first-team squad

Ake was 'broken' after Mourinho dropped him from Chelsea's first-team squad
© Reuters
The 24-year-old defender is now playing in the Premier League for Bournemouth.

Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake has revealed he was left mentally "broken" after being overlooked by Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

Dutch defender Ake made only seven Premier League appearances in five years at Stamford Bridge before joining Bournemouth for £20million in 2017.

The 24-year-old, who arrived at Chelsea from Feyenoord aged 16 in 2011, made six first-team appearances in the 2012-13 campaign, but played just once the following season after Mourinho replaced interim boss Rafael Benitez.

Ake told the Telegraph: "I went to the first team at Chelsea and played under Rafa Benitez and I always thought, 'why is everyone saying setbacks are coming because everything is going up, up, up?'

"The season after Benitez left I thought, 'this is going to be my season'.

"Then Jose Mourinho came and, without training, I got dropped into the second team.

"That was one of the toughest things for me, mentally. I was quite broken.

"Everything was going great, I played a few games, I was young player of the year and then I was in the reserves again."

Mourinho returned for his second spell at Chelsea in June 2013, succeeding Benitez, who had departed in the May after six months in the role as Roberto Di Matteo's replacement.

Ake, a regular start under Eddie Howe at Bournemouth this season, had loan spells at Reading and Watford during his time at Chelsea.


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Tables
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City29232476205671
2Liverpool29217164154970
3Tottenham HotspurSpurs29201856302661
4Manchester UnitedMan Utd29177558382058
5Arsenal29176661392257
6Chelsea28175649301956
7Wolverhampton WanderersWolves29127103735243
8Watford29127104141043
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham29116123741-439
10Everton29107123939037
11Leicester CityLeicester29105143541-635
12Bournemouth29104153954-1534
13Crystal Palace2996143539-433
14Newcastle UnitedNewcastle2987142636-1031
15Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2886143041-1130
16Burnley2986153253-2130
17Southampton2969143249-1727
18Cardiff CityCardiff2974182557-3225
19Fulham2945202765-3817
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield2935211551-3614

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