A CLAUSE allowing Chelsea to re-sign Nathan Ake for £40million has not expired, according to a report in The Sun.

It had been widely understood that the Blues had inserted a stipulation into their agreement to sell Ake to Cherries in 2017 which would allow them to buy-back the Dutchman.

Reports suggested the time limit on that clause ran out on January 31.

However, The Sun say Chelsea do still have first refusal on the centre-back, who turns 25 next week, for a fixed price of £40million.

Cherries paid £20million for Ake, having initially had him on a six-month loan deal the previous season.

The Holland international was linked with a host of clubs during last month's transfer window, including Chelsea and Tottenham.

Discussing recent rumours suggesting he could leave Vitality Stadium, Ake told the Daily Echo earlier this month: "These transfer situations, there is always going to be talk and stuff like that and people expect you to leave.

“But the only thing you can do is perform on the pitch, train every day as hard as you can and see what happens.

“Nothing happened, so we go again.

"Sometimes you see stuff on social media. I am not going to deny that but I am mentally strong enough to deal with that.”