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Manchester City were set to lose Nathan Ake to Chelsea for a fee of around £45million last week, but the clubs couldn't agree on a fixed valuation in the end for the player. David Ornstein of the Athletic then reported yesterday that Ake would be staying at Manchester City.

Chelsea have gone on to sign Kalidou Koulibaly, and Barcelona are close to signing Manchester City target Jules Kounde. 

Nathan Ake staying at City will almost definitely end their search for a centre-back. City were only in the market this season for a centre-back to replace Ake, someone for cover who would be there in the case of injuries.

City nearly lost the league due to injuries to centre-back's last season, and they were aware that losing Ake with no replacement would almost certainly cause problems throughout the season. 

Now, City have four centre-halves going into the new season. Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, Ruben Dias and of course, Nathan Ake.

The club are unlikely to look for another and their search for a centre-back is almost certainly over.

A Raheem Sterling replacement now could take priority, but Marc Cucurella is now the main target at the moment.

                                         Read More Manchester City Coverage

This article first appeared on FanNation City Xtra and was syndicated with permission.

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