Nathan Ake is convinced he will return to Chelsea better for the experience of six months on loan at Bournemouth under the tutelage of Eddie Howe.

Chelsea confirmed on Sunday that they had activated a recall clause in their loan agreement with Bournemouth and that Ake would spend the second half of the season in Antonio Conte’s side.

Bournemouth head coach Eddie Howe admitted losing the 21-year-old was a “huge blow” for his side with Ake having established himself in the starting XI in November and since impressing at the heart of the Cherries defence.

Ake was adamant that dealing with the disappointment of being sidelined by Howe had only made him stronger and credited his former manager with helping him to improve on and off the training pitch.

“Over the six months I feel I have developed as a player, both on and off the pitch,” Ake told the Bournemouth website. “To start with I wasn’t playing too much, but I dealt with that mentally, kept going and was happy when I got my chance.

“I was able to learn a lot from the manager. He spoke to me a lot about how I could improve and I picked up a lot of little ideas and different ways of thinking.

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“The ambition now is to continue to improve and break into the team at Chelsea. It’s a great team and the manager there has given me a lot of confidence, so it’s something I’m looking forward to.”

He may only have spent half a season on loan at the Vitality Stadium but Ake made a major contribution to Bournemouth’s season, scoring three goals in 10 Premier League appearances.

The most significant of those was surely his last minute strike in a 4-3 triumph over title contenders Liverpool, a goal that perhaps drew as many celebrations at Stamford Bridge as it did the Vitality.

It is little surprise that Ake dubbed that the “standout” moment of his loan spell, adding: “It was a crazy game and to score the winning goal was an amazing feeling. It’s something that I’ll remember for the longest time.

“That was not the only good memory. We also had some other good games where we kept clean sheets which were great and other games which I will remember for the wrong reasons.”