CHELSEA are leading the race for Nathan Ake after Eddie Howe admitted he was powerless to stop the defender leaving Bournemouth next month.
The Blues are eager to re-sign the centre-back, 24, after having their transfer ban lifted.
And a 40million buyback clause means Frank Lampard can take Ake to Stamford Bridge without having to conduct negotiations with the Cherries.
Manchester City are also said to be interested in Ake after looking at him last summer.
And Spurs boss Jose Mourinho is monitoring the versatile centre-backs situation.
But it appears Ake is heading back to West London after Howe conceded the Dutchmans future is out of his hands.
The Bournemouth boss said: It would be obviously my wish to hold on to everybody some of these things are out of our control.
We will wait and see. I dont want to give you evasive answers but I am in no control of that at the moment.
A lot of things with transfers [from] trying to bring players in, trying to keep the squad we have is out of my hands.
Obviously, we will be doing our best to be as strong as we can into the second half of the season.
Chelsea sold Ake to the Cherries for just 20m in the wake of their 2017 title win.
Ake played the first half of the season on loan at Bournemouth.
But Antonio Conte decided to sell him back to Eddie Howe despite the defenders reputation as one of Chelseas brightest young prospects.
Ake has since gone from strength to strength on the south coast, playing all 38 league games in each of his last two seasons while becoming a regular in the Netherlands squad.
And he could improve a shaky Chelsea backline which has conceded the joint-most amount of goals in the Premier Leagues top ten this term.
Ake can also play as a left-back or defensive midfielder, making him a great option for Lampards new-look squad.
