(Football news) Manchester City have agreed a £17m deal with Borussia Dortmund to sign Swiss defender Manuel Akanji from Borussia Dortmund. The deal is reportedly set to be an initial £15m payment plus £1.7m in add-ons and Akanji is already in the UK to undergo a medical with City. The Swiss international Akanji had entered the final year of his contract at Dortmund and was yet to make an appearance for the Bundesliga club this season as Dortmund were content with the fee they are going to receive for him.
Akanji was a target for Inter Milan this summer, who reported that Dortmund wanted between £13m (€15m) and £17m (€20m) to sell him. City have four recognised senior centre-backs in their squad, but Aymeric Laporte is yet to make an appearance this season due to injury. Ruben Dias, John Stones and Nathan Ake have competed for minutes but now Ake is also currently sidelined. Akanji had moved to Dortmund from Basel in 2018 and has been a first-team regular since his arrival. He went on to make 36 appearances in all competitions last season but this season, the 27-year-old has been pushed down the pecking order at Dortmund with the arrivals of Niklas Sule from Bayern Munich and Nico Schlotterbeck from Freiburg.
The defending Premier League champions have already made four signings so far this summer, with Erling Braut Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Stefan Ortega and Sergio Gomez all arriving at the Etihad Stadium. Laporte is yet to play for the Citizens this season after undergoing knee surgery over the summer, while Ake was subsequently withdrawn in the first half of their 3-3 draw against Newcastle United with a groin injury. Along with that, academy graduate Luke Mbete is also sidelined after sustaining concussion in a friendly against Barcelona while Ruben Dias and John Stones were both fit to start and played the full 90 minutes in City's 4-2 Premier League win over Crystal Palace last weekend.
City boss Pep Guardiola refused to rule out making more signings before Thursday's transfer. Asked about any further transfer business, Guardiola said: "I don't know, I don't know what will happen. With Bernardo I said many times how important he is for us. In just one, two days the window will finally be over and everyone will be focused on what we have to do."
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