In addition to Erling Haaland, Manuel Akanji is a second professional who switched from Borussia Dortmund to Manchester City this summer. The former BVB central defender switched from Dortmund to the English champions for over 17 million euros immediately before the transfer ended. In an interview, the Swiss national player explained how the last-minute deal went through.
After being a regular player for the Westphalians last season, Akanji says he was literally knocked out over the course of this summer.
“It wasn’t an easy time for me. I was part of the team and had an ongoing contract, I was focused and kept pushing in training. But the principle of performance no longer counted, I sat in the stands, no matter how well I trained “, the defender complained about the last few weeks before his departure to the English Premier League in an interview with the Swiss “View“.
At first he still believed in a positive turnaround in Dortmund and showed himself to be combative. “I was just trying to turn everything into positive energy. […] Because I was also convinced that quality would prevail in the end and that I would have come back to my assignments,” Akanji continued.
Akanji looks back on spectacular week
For the 27-year-old himself, it only became apparent at the end of August that he would actually continue at the English top club of team manager Pep Guardiola. On August 28, the Skyblues approached his agent for the first time, as Akanji himself revealed.
“In the days that followed, Manchester City negotiated with my agent and with Dortmund. It was extremely quick: I flew to Manchester on Tuesday, I did the medical check on Wednesday, and the transfer was official on Thursday,” Akanji told the Swiss newspaper further.
The events also overturned afterwards for the 27-year-old, who had played for BVB for a total of four and a half years.
“I flew back to Switzerland, my son was born, on Sunday I flew back to Manchester. Then on Monday the flight to Spain and suddenly on Tuesday I played against Sevilla in the Champions League from the start,” reported Akanji from probably the most spectacular week of his life.
Akanji emphasizes: “You’d rather play with Haaland than against Haaland”
The defender’s starting XI debut in the Cityzens jersey was immediately crowned with success, as he was on the field for over 90 minutes in the superior 4-0 away win in the premier class at Sevilla FC.
Prior to his debut under Pep Guardiola, Akanji had only trained twice with the team.
At the reigning English champions, Akanji is now playing again with Erling Haaland, who also left BVB for the island in the past transfer window.
“We’ve always been in contact since he left Dortmund. When my move to Manchester City was imminent, we exchanged ideas. We’re both happy that we can play together again. You’d rather play with Haaland than against Haaland,” the Swiss made it clear, who also described the Norwegian goal machine as a “very good and open guy” who “always stayed down to earth”.