Nathan Ake

Chelsea
Born on 18 February 1995 in Gravenhage, Holland, Nathan joined from Feyenoord in the summer of 2011 after competing in the Under-17 World Cup.

Versatile, he is primarily a defender who can play either in the middle or on the left, but is also comfortable in the centre of midfield. A successful first season, which included reserve team appearances, ended with the 2012 FA Youth Cup Final win although Nathan did not play the second leg of the final.

He made his first-team debut in the final moments of an away league game at Norwich on Boxing Day 2012, and his first start in an FA Cup fifth-round tie away at Middlesbrough at the end of February 2013. 

Ake then made his first European appearance for the Blues, playing the full 90 minutes in our 3-2 Europa League quarter-final second leg defeat to Rubin Kazan, and was an unused substitute three days later at Wembley for the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City. 

The Dutchman, who has featured regularly in both the NextGen Series and FA Youth Cup this campaign, scored the second goal in our 2-1 Youth Cup semi-final second leg win against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

International
Ake was part of the Dutch side beaten by Germany on penalties in the final of the European Under-17 Championships.

More recently, he scored the second goal in the Netherlands' 6-0 win over Czech Republic in March.