Nathan Ake is enjoying arguably the best period of his Manchester City career, and it's largely his own doing.
After impressing on City's pre-season tour of the United States the Dutch centre-back has played the full 90 minutes in both of City's competitive games so far this season. If Guardiola sticks to his rule of not dropping players unless they give him a reason to, it doesn't look like Ake will find himself on the bench any time soon.
Much of the two years the 27-year-old has spent at the club has not been easy. The arrival of Ruben Dias in September 2020, just weeks after Ake was signed from Bournemouth, shunted him down the pecking order and deprived him of the minutes he needed to build a run of form and confidence.
