Former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer has described Nathan Ake's move to Manchester City as "crazy".

Following Bournemouth's relegation at the end of the 2019-2020 season, the Dutch international made the £40m switch to City.

But some 18 months later, Ake has been a bit-part player for Pep Guardiola's men, even though he enjoyed Carabao Cup and Premier League glory last term.

How has Ake fared at Manchester City?

When he made the switch to the Etihad, he would have been hoping to quickly establish himself as a regular at the heart of the City defence.

Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi had left the club, which meant that Ake would have surely been eyeing up a regular starting place. He got his wish when he started the opening two Premier League games, but a combination of a 5-2 defeat to Leicester and the arrival of Ruben Dias saw him drop out of the side.

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Ake did miss more than two months of last season with a hamstring problem, but he's generally been out of favour throughout the majority of his City career.

Overall, Ake has started just 14 Premier League games and Palmer cannot believe that he decided to sign for the champions in the first place besides the financial benefits.

What did Palmer say about Ake?

He told GIVEMESPORT: "He's never going to play regularly for Manchester City, so it was a crazy, crazy move for him apart from the fact he's financially set up.

"He signed a five-year down and he's not even two years into that."

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Could Ake leave in January?

Whilst Ake's opportunities are likely to continue being limited, he's one of just four centre-backs at Manchester City heading into the New Year. Therefore, Guardiola might be reluctant to let him leave next month in case one of his three regulars get injured.

Regardless, the Dutchman has been linked with a loan move to West Ham, who are in desperate need of a centre-back following injuries to Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma.

Guardiola recently said that Ake remains focused and is a joy to have in his squad, but his chances of becoming a regular don't appear likely to improve in the coming weeks unless City get struck with Covid-19 or injury problems.