Chelsea scout Piet de Visser has urged the club to re-sign Nathan Ake from Bournemouth.

Netherlands international Ake switched from Stamford Bridge to the South Coast for £20m in 2017, having struggled to break from the academy into the Blues first team.

But now that the West London club have backed their youth stars to play under Frank Lampard, De Visser believes Ake should also be there alongside them.

Ahead of Chelsea's trip to Ajax in the Champions League, he told Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant: "Ake should have played for Chelsea by now. He's so good.

"How often does he not score with his head? He has timing and insight. I hope they buy him back. That boy is perfect for them and he has played with Lampard."

Nathan Ake (left) won the 2014 youth league with other Chelsea youngsters such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Lewis Baker (right)

Ake was a star of the same Chelsea youth side as Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek that won the U21 development league in 2014.

Now a fully-fledged Netherlands international, he joined Chelsea as a 16-year-old from Feyenoord having been considered one of his country's brightest prospects.

Ake spent time on loan Reading and Watford before a season-long loan spell at Bournemouth was cut short in January 2018, brought back to the club by then Chelsea manager Antonio Conte to act as cover and gaining several first-team appearances.

But he was then sold permanently to Bournemouth after Conte's exit that summer and he has become a key player for Eddie Howe, making 88 appearances for the Cherries so far.