Manuel Akanji

Manuel Obafemi Akanji (born 19 July 1995) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Switzerland national team.

Manuel Akanji
Akanji with Switzerland at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name Manuel Obafemi Akanji[1]
Date of birth (1995-07-19) 19 July 1995
Place of birth Wiesendangen,[2] Switzerland
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Borussia Dortmund
Number 16
Youth career
2004–2007 FC Wiesendangen
2007–2014 Winterthur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Winterthur 35 (1)
2015–2018 Basel 42 (5)
2018– Borussia Dortmund 117 (4)
National team‡
2014 Switzerland U20 2 (0)
2014–2015 Switzerland U21 6 (0)
2017– Switzerland 39 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:12, 30 April 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 March 2022

Club career

Youth football

Born in Wiesendangen,[4] Akanji began his youth career with the local club in Wiesendangen. In May 2007, Akanji changed clubs and was a youth-team player for FC Winterthur. During his early years, he played for their Under-18 team and later with their second team. In the 2014–15 Challenge League, he was in Winterthur's starting eleven, having played two games for them during the previous season.

Basel

On 15 April 2015, it was announced that Akanji would transfer to Basel for the 2015–16 Super League season.[5] He made his Swiss Super League debut on 26 September 2015 being substituted in against FC Lugano. Under trainer Urs Fischer, Akanji won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2015–16 Super League season[6] and at the end of the 2016–17 Super League season for the second time. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total. They also won the Swiss Cup for the twelfth time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in the club's history.[7]

As Swiss Champions, Basel qualified for the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League and started in the Group stage. Akanji played in all six games over the full 90 minutes and helped the team finish in second group position, thus qualifying for the next round. On 15 January 2018, Basel announced that Akanji had transferred to Borussia Dortmund.[8]

Borussia Dortmund

Akanji transferred to Borussia Dortmund on 15 January 2018 during the winter transfer window for a reported fee of 18 million euros.[9] He signed a four and a half year contract dated until June 2022.[10] On 27 September, Akanji scored his first goal for the club and his first Bundesliga goal in a 7–0 victory over 1. FC Nürnberg.[11] Akanji was widely criticised for his costly errors during Dortmund's failed challenge to Bayern during the 2019/20 season. Akanji was one of the main players singled out as a weak link in the team.[12]

International career

Akanji made two appearances for the Switzerland U-20 national team. His debut was on 7 September 2014 in the 0–0 draw against the German U-20 national team. From 2014, he was a member of the Switzerland U-21 team and made his debut for them on 26 March in the 0–3 defeat by the Italian U-21 team.

Akanji made his debut in the senior team in the 2–0 win against Faroe Islands in the 2018 World Cup qualification match on 9 June 2017. He played the entire 90 minutes.[13]

He was included in the Swiss team's 23 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

In May 2019, he played in 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where his team finished 4th. [14]

In 2021 he was called up to the national team for the 2020 UEFA European Championship, where the team created one of the main sensations of the tournament reaching the quarter-finals. [15]

Personal life

Akanji was born in Wiesendangen, Switzerland to a Swiss mother and a Nigerian father.[16]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 30 April 2022[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Winterthur 2013–14 Swiss Challenge League 2000——20
2014–15 33120——351
Total 351200000371
Basel 2015–16 Swiss Super League 80201[lower-alpha 1]0—110
2016–17 1543100— 185
2017–18 191316[lower-alpha 2]0—282
Total 425827000577
Borussia Dortmund 2017–18 Bundesliga 110000000110
2018–19 251105[lower-alpha 2]0—311
2019–20 290306[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0390
2020–21 282507[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0412
2021–22 241306[lower-alpha 4]01[lower-alpha 3]0341
Total 1174120240301564
Career total 194102223103025012
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearance in DFL-Supercup
  4. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League

International
As of match played 26 March 2022[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Switzerland 201740
201890
201990
202030
2021130
202210
Total390

Honours

FC Basel

Borussia Dortmund

References
  1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Switzerland" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2019.
  2. "Manuel Akanji: 10 things on Borussia Dortmund's new Swiss international defender". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website.
  3. "Manuel Akanji".
  4. "Manuel Akanji: 10 things on Borussia Dortmund's new Swiss international defender". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  5. Ein neuer Verteidiger für den FCB: Manuel Akanji kommt vom FC Winterthur TagesWoche dated 15. April 2015
  6. Marti, Casper (2016). "Es ist vollbracht ! Der FCB ist zum 19. Mal Meister". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  7. Marti, Casper (2017). "Der Saisonabschluss im Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  8. FC Basel 1893 (2018). "Manuel Akanji wechselt zu Borussia Dortmund". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  9. "Wechsel perfekt! BVB bekommt Akanji sofort" kicker, 15 January 2018. Retrieved on 15 January 2018.
  10. Borussia Dortmund (2018). "BVB verpflichtet Schweizer Nationalspieler Manuel Akanji". bvb.ch. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  11. "Marco Reus stars as breathtaking Borussia Dortmund put seven past Nuremberg". Bundesliga. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  12. "Three Borussia Dortmund players who need to improve". 11 November 2019.
  13. "Färöer Inseln 0:2 Schweiz". football.ch. Schweizerischer Fussballverband. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  14. "Pickford the hero in England shootout win". BBC Sport.
  15. https://www.uefa.com / uefaeuro-2020 / match / 2024485 - switzerland-vs-spain / lineups /? iv = true
  16. "Manuel Akanji: 10 things on Borussia Dortmund's new Swiss international defender". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  17. "M. Akanji". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. "Manuel Akanji". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  19. "Swiss football: FC Basel wins 3-0 over Sion in Geneva; police extra vigilant after game". allaboutgeneva.com. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
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