Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard is reportedly delaying the club from activating £40 million buy-back option for Bournemouth's Nathan Ake this January's transfer window for two reasons.
According to The Athletic, Lampard is postponing the deal for Ake because he is optimistic that defender, Antonio Rudiger would be fit for the second half of the season and centre-back, Andreas Christensen will fight for his spot.
The newspaper reports that the former Derby County boss has refused to lose faith on Rudiger, who has missed several matches for Chelsea this season due to injury and Christensen, who has struggled to force his way into Lampard's starting XI at Stamford Bridge so far this term.
Chelsea sold Ake to Bournemouth back in 2017 for around half £40m.
Lampard's side are free to sign new players this month after the West London club successfully appealed their transfer ban from FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month.
Chelsea are currently sitting in the fourth position on the Premier League table with 36 points from 21 games.
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