It wasn't that Manu Akanji's phone wasn't ringing in summer, he just wasn't getting the call that he wanted.
The 27-year-old received plenty of offers in a transfer window where he was seeking a fresh challenge — including from the Premier League as Leicester City showed interest when Chelsea moved for Wesley Fofana — yet with less than a week to go before deadline day the defender was gearing up to see out the final year of his contract in the Bundesliga. Then Manchester City appeared on the other end of the line and sparked a whirlwind of activity, uprooting Akanji to a new city and league and seeing him make his debut for the Premier League champions in their opening Champions League game all in the space of about 10 days.
City made a late, unexpected move for the Dortmund centre-back after injury to Nathan Ake made them reflect on the problems they have in the position, with Aymeric Laporte out until October at the earliest. The £15.1m decision already looks justified; Akanji missed the weekend game at Aston Villa to be with his wife for the birth of the second child but before he had completed two sessions after his move Kyle Walker and John Stones had also been sidelined, leading to his start against Sevilla.
Also read: Pep Guardiola compares Manuel Akanji debut to Man City teammate
Txiki Begiristain and the club do not commit their money to stop-gap signings though. Akanji has been given a five-year deal at the Etihad and — just like former teammate Erling Haaland has done — is determined to prove to everyone who knows him that he has not moved to the Etihad simply to make up the numbers.
"I feel like it’s big news [back in Switzerland]. I have not been there yet since the signing, but Man City is one of the biggest clubs in the world," he told the Manchester Evening News.
"I also want to show I did not come here to be just a random player. I want to be on this team and play as much as possible. Some people might still have doubts about it and I need to prove to them I can do it, and that’s why I’m here.
"Some people might think I came here just as another defender to play some time. I don’t really know what everyone thinks as I don’t read all the newspapers but there are always some doubts on everyone. Even Erling when he came, there were questions over if he could do here the same. Of course, he’s proving them wrong.
"I want to prove myself. I know I am capable of doing it, but I need to show it. That’s all that matters: what you do on the pitch and if you’re ready to cope with it. I think I am and I want to show it to myself and to the people that believed in me."
If Akanji still needs to get up to speed with his new team and life, the defender arrives with the experience and quality that will not allow his fellow centre-backs to underestimate him. City weren't necessarily planning on life with him this season, but he has watched the matches of the team for some years -—a team Pep Guardiola and Txiki Begiristain think he is a perfect fit for — and is in regular contact with Haaland and United's Jadon Sancho.
Akanji was a regular for Dortmund for four years before deciding to leave, and whether or not he gets an opportunity to prove himself against his former club in the Champions League he plans to head into the World Cup with Switzerland fit and in form. Moving to the Premier League, and to the champions no less, is the next forward step in the player's career that he was holding out for this summer.
Ruben Dias, John Stones, Laporte and Ake have all already earned the trust of Guardiola and Akanji knows it is not realistic to expect to play every game. At the same time, a man who went viral on social media for his quick maths has calculated that there is the potential for more minutes than he was getting - especially after hearing from the club before he joined that there was no pecking order of centre-backs to file in behind.
"They told me that we don't have a No.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 choice — we're all players in that position and the guys who train best and play the best are going to play," he said. "Obviously [Pep] Guardiola will make changes because if he plays the same team every game there will be problems because your body just can't do it.
"I think it's clear to most of the guys that you're not going to play every game but the goal for every player is to be on the pitch in every game so that's what we try to do in every training session and every game. I don't think I have to switch mentally because I'm trying to do my best every day. In the end, one a day maybe I can say I did enough but another one has a chance.
"I knew the situation at Man City. I watch a lot of their games over the last few years and I knew they already have world class players all around the team. I think I'm ready for the challenge.
"It might not be easy and I can't expect to play every game but we have so many games coming up and we have injuries, suspensions, whatever but I'm trying to show the coach in every training session that I want to play. That is my goal.
"I also know that I have a lot more games here than I had in Dortmund. There are four more Premier League games, there is one more cup so there will be more games and the games are harder to play in. At some point, something will happen that I can't play in the next game and that's a thing because we have so many centre-backs we can switch them out.
"The players up front don't play every game either even though they are capable of it because Guardiola changes it. That's the thing at Man City, when you have so many good players and are playing in so many competitions it's hard to go every game."
Given Akanji's experience in the Champions League for Basel and Dortmund and representing Switzerland at European Championships, World Cups and UEFA Nations League final stages, there is little wonder that Guardiola appears so happy with the latest addition to his squad. The manager likened him to Laporte after his debut in Seville and believes him to be in his peak years for his position — a position that is one of the most difficult to master in the City team.
Understandably, given the sudden nature of the move and the coach's notoriously difficult demands, the player is still getting to grips with his new environment. As well as adapting to what he has seen from afar, extra details that aren't as visible on TV — from Ederson's passing ability up close to Ruben Dias's leadership skill to the potential of the academy players — have given the new signing even more to take in.
At the same time though, as well as being able to take advice from Haaland and Sancho on how to adapt Akanji is confident enough in his own abilities to be happy taking on the challenge. With the Norwegian No.9 and others helping him to settle, and with a house hopefully sorted soon once his family make the move over, the Swiss defender already feels he is growing into the City dressing room after overcoming a few nerves on his debut and is looking forward to adding his own qualities into the mix.
"In the end it's still football. I like to play this type of football and the players around me too," he said.
"Before the [Sevilla] game I was a little bit nervous but I felt really comfortable on the pitch, it just felt normal. I did what I always do and the guys around gave me an option to always play to. It turned out really good and I'm happy.
"Here you will learn a lot in training because the intensity is so high that it makes it a lot harder. It's not like we are doing different exercises from Dortmund but the quality and intensity makes it so much higher.
"It's really hard and that's how you can get used to the Premier League and everything. I will hopefully have my first Premier League game soon and will know more but I think that it is a lot faster than in Germany.
"I'm not there at the level they are at but I try to learn every day and the coaches are telling me if i can improve on things. I'm here to learn and there are some things that are new to me with the system but I haven't had problems before with new coaches and new systems.
"As a defender you're the closest one to the keeper so you're getting the ball and building the team up from the back to play the ball in the right places. That's really what Pep wants from us and also the other side I see a lot of details in training that I haven't really learned before — how you stand to the ball, how you block a shot and stuff like that. There are a lot of things that are coming on and I'm looking forward to improving every day.
"I see the stuff other players are doing in training and I think I can improve and learn from them as well. Maybe they can see something from me too to learn from, I don’t know, but that’s why training is for and why the coaching staff is for – to improve us."
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