Manuel

Akanji

CULTURED CENTRE BACK...

The 27-year-old Swiss central defender joined from Borussia Dortmund in September 2022, with Manuel having made more than 150 appearances in total for the Bundesliga club.

He began his career at FC Winterthur in his homeland before moving to Basel, where he impressed enough in his three seasons to convince Dortmund to swoop for him in January 2018.

During the course of his four-and-a-half year stay with the Black and Yellows, Manuel helped Dortmund to win the German Super Cup in 2019 and the German Cup in 2020/21.

He is also an experienced international, having won 49 caps with Switzerland to date, and featured for his country at both the 2018 World Cup finals and EURO 2020.

And, having made an accomplished start to his City career, Akanji was part of the Swiss squad that reached the last 16 at the 2022 World Cup finals.

Akanji made four appearances at the Qatar tournament, scoring in Switzerland’s last 16 loss to Portugal.

His return to club football in December saw him flourish further in City’s defensive line that was the envy of all. 

In his 48 appearances in all competitions, City won 37, as they overcame a hectic fixture schedule in the final months of the season to create history. 

Within three weeks Akanji was part of a trio of amazing celebrations. 

City lifted our third consecutive Premier League title, followed by FA Cup final glory over Manchester United.

And the piece de resistance, the Champions League trophy on 10 June 2023, becoming part of City’s Treble-winning squad in his debut season. 

The defender has continued to go from strength to strength at the beginning of the 2023/24 season. He played the entirety of our Super Cup win over Sevilla in Athens on 16 August 2023 as he adds his fourth accolade to his City career. 

And Manu collected yet another winner’s medal as City beat Fluminense to win the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup.