The new Man City signing who supported Man Utd as a child
FT Desk
- 13 Sept 2022 08:45 BST
- 3 min read
New Manchester City signing Manuel Akanji has admitted that it is true that he did support rivals Manchester United while growing up.
Quotes emerged over the past week from Akanji’s time at previous club Borussia Dortmund in which the defender revealed his support for United.
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“Since my childhood days Manchester United have been my favourite club. I’d like to play there one day,” Akanji was attributed as saying.
The Switzerland international has now confessed that it is true what he said.
How Akanji responded to Man Utd story
“I gave that interview soon after I joined Dortmund [in 2018] and said I had been a Manchester United fan as a child,” Akanji told Blick.
“But I also said that when you reach a certain level as a player, you are no longer a fan – as you end up playing against clubs like that.”
Akanji joined Man City on the last day of the summer transfer window, with Borussia Dortmund opting to cash in before his contract expired at the end of the season.
The 27-year-old signed a five-year deal with the Etihad club, meaning he is contracted to Man City until 2027.
Akanji cost City £15 million (€17.3m) in an upfront fee, plus bonus payments that could reach £1.7m (€2m).
The centre-back has spent the majority of his career playing in Switzerland, where he made his professional debut with Winterthur before graduating to Basel in 2015. From there, he was snapped up by Dortmund three years later.
At Dortmund from 2018, he was a regular for the Bundesliga challengers over the course of his time at the club, albeit it was interrupted on a fairly regular basis because of injuries.
He is expected to be something of a squad player at Man City, given the depth of quality that manager Pep Guardiola has.
