It’s a very welcome sight to see Manuel Akanji back in the sky blue shirt of Manchester City.

The 29-year-old has been a colossus in the back line since joining us in September 2022 from Borussia Dortmund.

He was a key figure as we won the Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in his first season before adding the UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, another Premier League and the Community Shield to his trophy cabinet.

This season, he was hampered by an abductor muscle injury he picked up in the first half of February’s 3-2 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

He subsequently had surgery on the issue and missed 11 games across a two-month spell before coming on as a late substitute in the 2-0 away win at Everton.

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The centre-half came on again in the last-gasp victory over Aston Villa, was on the bench in the 2-0 FA Cup semi-final triumph over Nottingham Forest before heading out onto the Etihad turf just before the hour mark in the Friday Night Football victory over Wolves.

Akanji’s return offers Pep Guardiola more options as the boss looks to inspire the Blues to a Champions League spot and an FA Cup final win.

Our photographers have been following the Swiss ace’s progress for his time out and you can check out the best images below.