Lampard coy on reports Chelsea could re-sign Ake

Frank Lampard has refused to be drawn on the possibility of Nathan Ake returning to Chelsea from Bournemouth.

A buy-back clause was included in the deal which saw Ake sold to the south-coast club in 2017.

And there have been reports that Blues boss Lampard is keen to take the Dutch defender back to Stamford Bridge.

But Lampard gave little away when asked at a news conference on Friday about the buy-back clause and whether he would like to strengthen his defence.

He said: “Nathan came through here and when he’s gone to Bournemouth to play regular football I think he’s done fantastically well and showed himself to be a really good defender in the Premier League there.

“In terms of the back four, the centre of defence that we have, I’m very happy. It (new signings) wouldn’t be anything I consider until I feel otherwise and at the minute we can do no business.

“We have to worry about Bournemouth tomorrow, Tottenham next Sunday, Southampton, Arsenal, Brighton and then the window opens.”

Ake, 24, will miss Bournemouth’s visit to the Bridge on Saturday because of a hamstring problem. He is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.

Chelsea will again be without Fikayo Tomori, who has a hip problem but is likely to return to training next week.