Manuel Akanji shuts down Manchester City transfer talk as Serie A title nears | OneFootball

Manchester City’s on-loan defender Manuel Akanji has shut down the possibility of a return this month despite a crippling injury crisis dampening the Premier League side’s title hopes.

Pep Guardiola is without Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias, both of whom are expected to be ruled out for a matter of months with a fractured leg and a hamstring problem respectively, forcing a reliance on others in the squad with less experience. 

Abdukodir Khusanov and Max Alleyne formed a centre-back pairing which was humbled by Manchester United and, most recently, Bodo/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League, defining the issues that behold Manchester City at the moment. 

Nico O’Reilly – arguably City’s strongest defender – was trialled in midfield at Old Trafford but was swiftly moved back to his native left-back role, while Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rico Lewis have effectively proved to be unusable at right-back. 

There are many weak points in the Manchester City defence at present, even with the £20 million signing of Marc Guehi minimising the risk of further defeats. But the chances of Manuel Akanji – who has played 26 times for Serie A side Inter – returning are non-existent.

“No, there was no possibility of me returning to [Manchester] City,” he told the Italian club’s official website ahead of Inter’s 1-3 UEFA Champions League defeat to Arsenal on Tuesday night. 

The defender was also asked whether or not he deems Inter to be his club for the future, to which he replied, “The earlier question was about whether I’d return in the winter and I said no. 

“What happens at the end of the season is not only up to me, but I’m very happy here and I hope it can continue. We’ll see what happens.”

Inter are planning to trigger a £15 million buy-option to sign Akanji on a permanent move due to his significance in their fight for a 21st Serie A title, as the league leaders currently hold a three-point advantage on second-placed AC Milan with 21 games played. 

The 30-year-old has hit heights in multiple leagues over his career, having started at FC Winterthur before moving to FC Basel in 2015. 

Then, his potential really started to transpire when he joined Borussia Dortmund, which was the move that preceded his transfer to Manchester City, where he won a UEFA Champions League, two Premier League titles and an FA Cup under the watchful eye of Pep Guardiola.

But as the Catalan manager’s exit looms at the end of this season or the 2026/27 campaign, there is a large possibility that Manuel Akanji’s days at the Etihad Stadium are over for good.