Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United will have to wait to find out whether or not Chelsea will try to re-sign Nathan Ake if they follow up their interest in the Bournemouth defender.

Ake’s impressive start to the season with Bournemouth has attracted Tottenham and United, even though there is little prospect of the 23-year-old being allowed to move in January.

The two clubs are likely to keep tracking Ake until next summer, but any move for the Holland international would have to wait until Chelsea signalled their intention.

As part of Ake’s £20 million move to Bournemouth, Chelsea negotiated a gentleman’s agreement that would allow them to re-sign him for a fee of around £40m.

There has not yet been any sign that Chelsea are ready to try to take Ake back to Stamford Bridge and any move to re-sign him would have to be agreed by the player. But a summer bid from either Spurs or United would force Bournemouth to offer Chelsea the opportunity to make a move and leave the other two clubs sweating.