Who is Manuel Akanji? International defender Man City are ‘close’ to signing

Manchester City are reportedly closing in on the signing of Borussia Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji.

The champions haven’t stopped their summer recruitment drive just yet as they look to add the finishing touches to their squad for the 2022/23 campaign.

Akanji’s current contract at Dortmund is set to expire next season, a situation City look set to take advantage of.

As reported by The Athletic, City are ‘close’ to striking a £15m (€17.5m) deal to lure him to the Etihad Stadium before the transfer deadline.

Who is Akanji?

Akanji is a Switzerland international who has 41 caps under his belt. He represented his country at the World Cup in 2018 and at the last European Championships.

He started his career at local club FC Wiesendangen before he was snapped up by Swiss Super League side FC Winterthur as a youngster.

The centre-back rose up through their academy and was a regular at various youth levels before breaking into their first team.

He went on to play 37 games in all competitions before he was signed by FC Basel in April.

Basel days

The Swiss giants forked out just £630,000 (as per Transfermarkt) to acquire him and would later sell him to Dortmund for £19.4million.

Akanji was a hit during his time at St. Jakob Park and helped Basel win the league twice and the Swiss Cup once during his three years at the club.

Past few years in Germany

Dortmund decided to bring him to Germany in January 2018 and the 27-year-old has impressed in the Bundesliga.

He has since spent the past six campaigns at Signal Iduna Park but his current team have been pipped to the title by Bayern Munich every year he has been there.

Nevertheless, Akanji has still enjoyed plenty of game time, making 158 appearances altogether.

City could now see him as someone to give them more depth in their defensive department, with Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake current injured.