Glenn Murray has praised Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji for the way he settled into the club.
The centre-back is now in the midst of his second season at the Manchester club, but will not be available for tomorrow’s clash against Manchester United after he was sent off and handed a one-game suspension during City’s previous Premier League game against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Despite this unfortunate blemish, one pundit and former Premier League player has been singing the praises of the centre-back and what he’s done during his time at the Etihad Stadium.
Murray hails Akanji impact
Speaking in a recent edition of Team Talks by Premier League Productions (via Optus Sport), Murray had this to say about Akanji.
He said: “Akanji will be a big miss, don’t get me wrong. He’s stepped into a Manchester City shirt seamlessly, like a lot of people actually don’t, it normally takes people a long time to settle.
“But even without him, I think Man City will be too strong at Old Trafford this weekend.”
City signed the Switzerland international back in September last year from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £15m.
Since then, the 28-year-old has made 61 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions, the latest of which saw him score his second goal for the club in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Young Boys in the Champions League.
Across his 29 Premier League appearances last season, Akanji racked up the third-highest total of tackles and interceptions (52) in the City squad as well as the joint-second-highest number of blocks (27).
This shows just how much of a capable defensive figure he proved himself to be and why it was such a great bit of business from the club to sign him.
With all of that in mind, it’s hard to disagree with Murray about how seemingly easy it has been for Akanji to settle in at City and make himself a key figure for Pep Guardiola.
