Simon Francis believes that Nathan Ake will benefit from rejecting a move to top teams such as Tottenham and Manchester City.

Ake has been linked with many "top six" clubs in England. The 23-year-old defender joined Bournemouth from Chelsea in 2017.

And Francis believes he will benefit from sticking around a bit longer.

Francis said to the Daily Echo: "We are in a comfortable position to keep hold of those kind of players. They enjoy playing here, we know that.

"If big clubs come in for our players, that's only a positive and means we are doing something right.

"Nath is a great age and is playing some fantastic football. I couldn't think of a better club for him to progress at than here, because of the manager and our style of play.

"It could be easy for him to be lured to a big club where, potentially, he might not play week in, week out. But here, he's playing in a good footballing side and he gets a lot of the ball, he defends really well and reads the game excellently.

"I think we are the perfect match for him at the moment."