Akanji

Manuel Akanji has officially signed for Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund, and the player has been speaking about his move.

"He has everything we want in a centre-back. I really like the football style the team plays, and I think I can fit perfectly in that style." [Txixi Begiristain ](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/txiki-begiristain/profil/trainer/6616)also spoke on what it means to have a player like Manuel Akanji in the ranks at the club. [#PL](https://twitter.com/hashtag/PL?src=hashtag_click) and obviously a lot of (Manchester City) games, because they have been champions many times in recent years. [Pep Guardiola](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/pep-guardiola/profil/trainer/5672) wanted a new centre-back after the injury of [Nathan Ake](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/nathan-ake/profil/spieler/177476) against Newcastle, and he has got a very talented one in the shape of 27-year old [Manuel Akanji.](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/manuel-akanji/profil/spieler/284730) "It was a bit unexpected in the last stage of the transfer market, but when Manchester City asked me to move here, I had no doubts."

A player who adds plenty of experience to Pep Guardiola's side, he comes in at the mid-price bracket for defenders in Fantasy Premier League. Video ...

He sets you back £5.4m at present, with [Ruben Dias](https://www.mancity.com/players/ruben-dias) (£6.0m) the most expensive of our centre-halves. [Stones](https://www.mancity.com/players/john-stones) is next in the defending champions’ defensive pricelist. [Kyle Walker](https://www.mancity.com/players/kyle-walker) is also similarly priced to Akanji at £5.1m, as is new midfielder [Kalvin Phillips](https://www.mancity.com/players/kalvin-phillips), who is currently available for £4.9m. [Erling Haaland](https://www.mancity.com/players/erling-haaland), [Kalvin Phillips](https://www.mancity.com/players/kalvin-phillips), Julian Alvarez and [Stefan Ortega Moreno](https://www.mancity.com/players/stefan-ortega-moreno). [Ake](https://www.mancity.com/players/nathan-ake), who has been assigned the same value. [Pep Guardiola](https://www.mancity.com/players/pep-guardiola)’s side, he comes in at the mid-price bracket for defenders in Fantasy Premier League.

The Premier League champions managed to get a budget deal done for the Switzerland international, who was in the final year of his deal in Germany.

Akanji becomes the Citizens’ fifth signing of the summer following the arrivals of Erling Haaland, Stefan Ortega, Kalvin Phillips and Sergio Gomez. They are brilliant to watch, play an exciting brand of football and compete for trophies year in, year out, so coming here feels like the perfect next step in my career. He will wear the No. Akanji won the German Cup in 2020/21 for Dortmund, and played in every minute of Switzerland’s run to the quarter-finals at Euro 2020 last summer. “I am really looking forward to testing myself in the Premier League and I will do everything I can to help this Club be successful.” The 27-year-old reportedly cost an initial £15 million after City pounced on the opportunity to sign the centre-back once he entered the final year of his deal in Germany.

Manchester City have completed the signing of Manuel Akanji from Borussia Dortmund, with the Swiss moving to England in a £15 million ($17m) deal.

With the rest of the squad starting so well, the centre of defence is a position where they can afford to be overly cautious and in Akanji they have have an experienced option, for a good price who can quickly settle into the team." WHAT THEY SAID: Akanji has said: "I am delighted to be here and can’t wait to get started. The 27-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the reigning Premier League champions through to the summer of 2027.

The defender Manuel Akanji has signed a five-year contract with Manchester City after joining from Borussia Dortmund.

“You can see in his face the way he wants to score, how aggressive he is inside the box and that is great to have. His hunger for goals, he always wants more and to have a striker like him in our team is just great. In the games he’s even better [than in training] in terms of when he gets pressure, he deals with it very well. The fee for Edozie could rise to £10m and Larios has cost £6m. Pep Guardiola is an exceptional manager and this is an exceptional squad of players so this is an exciting opportunity for me.” The 27-year-old follows Kalvin Phillips, Stefan Ortega, Sergio Gómez and Erling Haaland, who was also signed from Dortmund, in joining City during this window.

Manchester City have completed the signing of Manuel Akanji from Borussia Dortmund.

- Played: 39 - Goals: 1 - Played: 20 “He has everything we want in a centre-back. They are brilliant to watch, play an exciting brand of football and compete for trophies year in, year out, so coming here feels like the perfect next step in my career. [Stefan Ortega Moreno](https://www.mancity.com/players/stefan-ortega-moreno), [Kalvin Phillips](https://www.mancity.com/players/kalvin-phillips), [Sergio Gomez](https://www.mancity.com/players/sergio-gomez) and former Dortmund team-mate [Erling Haaland](https://www.mancity.com/players/erling-haaland) to become our fifth signing of the summer, with Julian Alvarez also arriving following his loan spell with River Plate.

Manchester City have completed the signing of Manuel Akanji from Borussia Dortmund, with the Swiss moving to England in a £15 million ($17m) deal.

With the rest of the squad starting so well, the centre of defence is a position where they can afford to be overly cautious and in Akanji they have have an experienced option, for a good price who can quickly settle into the team." WHAT THEY SAID: Akanji has said: "I am delighted to be here and can’t wait to get started. The 27-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the reigning Premier League champions through to the summer of 2027.

Manchester City have completed the signing of Manuel Akanji from Borussia Dortmund, with the Swiss moving to England in a £15 million ($17m) deal.

With the rest of the squad starting so well, the centre of defence is a position where they can afford to be overly cautious and in Akanji they have have an experienced option, for a good price who can quickly settle into the team." WHAT THEY SAID: Akanji has said: "I am delighted to be here and can’t wait to get started. The 27-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the reigning Premier League champions through to the summer of 2027.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about the arrival of Manuel Akanji and Aymeric Laporte's absence.

That's one of the reasons why we decided to go for Akanji. Guardiola had serious issues at the end of last season with Kyle Walker, John Stones and Ruben Dias all missing crucial weeks of the run-in after being rushed back from injury. "He'll be ready after the international break. We are very pleased they are here and good competition for the central defenders. [City](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/all-about/manchester-city-fc) were not planning to add another centre-half to their ranks this summer as they prioritised other areas of the team. With that contributing to a lack of depth at centre-back, spending £15.1m on Akanji made sense.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola explained the reasoning behind signing Manuel Akanji, while ruling out Aymeric Laporte for up to two months.

He said: “We had the opportunity to bring a player with one year left on his contract, huge experience. “But sometimes… [West Ham](https://theathletic.com/football/team/west-ham-united/) away and [Aston Villa](https://theathletic.com/football/team/aston-villa/), when we had no alternatives and he played with this injury. “We had four incredible centre defenders,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Laporte had a bone problem, but I’m not a doctor.” “He had a knee injury, a tough one.

Several late Premier League transfers were completed on deadline day with Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City all adding to their squads.

Don’t let forwards tempt him into trying to follow them and make a challenge in the channels, because he’s not recovering that ground afterwards. It has been a tough summer for Leicester fans and Wout Faes is the only first-team present they were offered. He is a central player primarily, though BVB also used him on the sides of a three and even at full-back in a four at times...not usually with a positive outcome from the latter, it should be noted. A switch to Fulham, then, will hopefully revitalise this once-exciting youngster; now 29 it remains to be seen how much of his old explosivity and adventurism he can rediscover. He has been a firm backup player over the past few campaigns and only made the bench twice in Ligue 1 last season. Akanji has also, however, been afflicted by concentration issues and error-strewn games - something which has been a Dortmund-wide problem for some time, so perhaps it was more environment or asked-for role than actual skill-set. [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) His passing is good enough to replicate some of Jorginho’s deeper work on the ball too, while being more mobile than the Italian. Another who has left Juventus, the Swiss midfielder signed for Chelsea on loan and will look to rediscover his pre-injury top form. [Privacy policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en) and [Terms of service](https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en) apply. A Thiago alternative is the most likely use for him initially. He’s not a out-and-out attacker or clever dribbling conduit, but adds guile and final-third running when used in that spot.

Pep Guardiola has said Manchester City were forced into the transfer market to sign Manuel Akanji over fears about Aymeric Laporte's fitness.

"I think maybe after the international break [he could return]. "So we've just had two centre-backs. [John Stones](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/157974/John-Stones) and [Ruben Dias](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/234878/Rúben-Dias) in the last two games against [Crystal Palace](/soccer/team?id=384) and [Nottingham Forest](/soccer/team?id=393) and they are likely to be paired together again for the trip to [Aston Villa](/soccer/team?id=362) on Saturday. Guardiola is not expecting to have Laporte available until after the international break at the end of September but the 28-year-old could possibly return for the home game against [Manchester City](/soccer/team?id=382) were forced into the transfer market to sign [Manuel Akanji](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/214562/Manuel-Akanji) over fears about [Aymeric Laporte](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/159317/Aymeric-Laporte)'s fitness. [ completed the €17.5 million signing](/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/4734247/man-city-sign-borussia-dortmunds-manuel-akanji) of Akanji from [Borussia Dortmund](/soccer/team?id=124) on deadline day.

Pep Guardiola says City had to enter the transfer market for Manuel Akanji to get through the intensive schedule before the winter World Cup.

The guy working there was working here and we wish them all the best.” After agreement of the club, and we have buy back in case they explode and we have the chance to get them back. [Download the Man City app](https://www.mancity.com/app) He is fast, really good in the build-up. Southampton bought really good players. [Aymeric](https://www.mancity.com/players/aymeric-laporte) [Laporte](https://www.mancity.com/players/aymeric-laporte) and Nathan [Ake](https://www.mancity.com/players/nathan-ake) unavailable through injury, [Ruben Dias](https://www.mancity.com/players/ruben-dias) and John [Stones](https://www.mancity.com/players/john-stones) were the only senior centre-backs fit to face Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.

SportsBrief.com News ☆ Pep Guardiola believes Manuel Akanji will be the "perfect" fit for Manchester City after signing the Switzerland defender from ...

I am not able to do it." "I said one month ago it would be end of September, October. "We had four incredible central defenders before Manu but sometimes Ayme had tough injuries. [Guardiola](https://sportsbrief.com/tag/pep-guardiola/) told reporters on Friday. [Etihad Stadium](https://sportsbrief.com/tag/etihad-stadium/) on a five-year contract. [© AFP 2022](https://sportsbrief.com/author/afp/)