Bournemouth boss denies they receive bids for Arsenal & Chelsea target Ake

Eddie Howe says there has not been any formal interest in Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake.

Reports in Friday's newspapers linked the Netherlands international with a move to Arsenal following Calum Chambers' long-term injury.

Ake is also a target for Manchester City and Chelsea with the latter having a £40m buy-back clause for the 24-year-old, who left Stamford Bridge for £20m in 2017.

When asked if Bournemouth has been approached by clubs for Ake, Howe said: "Nothing to report on Nathan (Ake). He is recovering well from his injury, we will see when he is back fit."

Ake has been missing since coming off injured during Bournemouth's match with Liverpool at the start of December.

He has been one of a number of absentees for Bournemouth and Howe says his focus is getting those back fit rather than the transfer window.

Josh King, Jack Stacey, Adam Smith, Arnaut Groeneveld, Charlie Daniels, Lloyd Kelly and David Brooks are all still missing and will not be available for Bournemouth's FA Cup third-round fixture with Luton on Saturday evening.

Howe added: "The biggest thing for us is to get some players back who are injured. We know the quality of players who are missing.

"If we can [sign players], then great. I'm not going to give you any definitive ideas for what it will happen. Maybe loans but maybe nothing. It'll depend on the injured players coming back."

Saturday's FA Cup game will come as a welcome distraction for Bournemouth after they slipped into the bottom three of the Premier League having lost eight of their last 10 league matches.