Pep Guardiola lauded Manuel Akanji following his performance for Manchester City against Liverpool – and heaped praise on Txiki Begiristain for bringing him to the club.
City played out a 1-1 draw with the Reds at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and it was a somewhat frustrating result in the end.
City went ahead through Erling Haaland, but were pegged back in the second-half when Trent Alexander-Arnold scored an equaliser.
That equaliser came after City had a goal by Ruben Dias ruled out for a very soft foul on Alisson by Akanji.
Had that goal been given, it would have made things very difficult for Liverpool.
Akanji was very unlucky to be penalised, but the Swiss did at least come in for very high praise from his manager after the game…
Pep Guardiola absolutely thrilled Manuel Akanji is a Manchester City player
Akanji started as a defender but was playing ‘the John Stones role’ against Liverpool.
City had most of the ball, so that meant he pushed put into midfield alongside Rodri, in order to try and overload in the midfield.
£180,000-a-week star Akanji has sometimes looked uncomfortable in this role and is definitely not as natural in it as Stones. But on Saturday he was excellent, and appears to be getting to grips with it more now. Guardiola stated that he had been ‘unbelievable’.
Last night, some more Pep quotes emerged from the embargoed section of his post-Liverpool press conference.
He said: “What a signing Man City has done. He can play full-back, central defender, now holding midfield. When he arrives in the final third, he has ability to make passes, he’s fast, he’s strong, what a player Txiki [Begiristain] has brought me here!”
Akanji has been an incredible bargain
Akanji has truly been a wonderful signing for City since he arrived for a reported £15 million last year.
A lot of people felt he would just come in and be a rotation player, since he didn’t particularly have an amazing reputation.
But he’s come in and pretty much been a regular pick for Pep Guardiola, with Akanji constantly demonstrating his versatility.
He’s been fantastic in multiple positions across the backline and is now venturing into midfield and it’s amazing to think he only cost £15 million, because he operates like a player who’s worth about three or four times that amount.
