Eddie Howe has confirmed that Chelsea have the option to bring Nathan Ake back to Stamford Bridge in January following his impressive loan performances at Bournemouth.
Ake scored his third goal in his last six Premier League games to put Bournemouth ahead against Southampton on Sunday, stooping low to meet Jack Wilshere's cross and nod home a fine diving header at Dean Court.
Howe's Cherries could not hold on to the lead as Southampton fought back to claim a 3-1 victory, but the coach stated his desire to keep Ake on loan for the rest of the season rather than see him head back to Antonio Conte's league leaders.
"I thought Nathan Ake was excellent again," 39-year-old Howe said. "There is a clause there where Chelsea can recall him.
"But we would hope the fact he's playing and playing well would mean he'd stay. But we'll wait and see.
"If you take away his goal he defended really well, he used the ball well and he got into some good positions, it's a positive from today."
Ake was disappointed with Bournemouth's defeat, telling the club's official website: "It just wasn’t meant to be today
"I think we started the first 20 minutes or so well and we did okay. Our all-round play wasn’t that great, but we got ourselves in front.
Chelsea's winning run in the Premier League under Antonio Conte
"They were trying to force the passes and we looked better on the ball. That was maybe the other way around when they got the equaliser. We struggled after that point.
"When they got the goal we weren’t good enough on the ball. We gave it away in dangerous areas and made it easier for them. We made a lot of unnecessary mistakes.
"Right from the start of the second half we were slow and we gave the ball away. That obviously gave Southampton confidence and they were able to find space for shots on goal. They were clever with the ball and we just couldn’t get going.
"It’s a shame we weren’t able to build on our win against Leicester on Tuesday. We really wanted to keep that momentum going and win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
"We have to move on, but we shouldn’t forget this game. We have to use it as a reference and look at where we went wrong."
Additional reporting by the Press Association.
