Manuel Akanji has credited Pep Guardiola and his teammates for helping him settle into life at Manchester City so quickly.
The defender arrived from Borussia Dortmund on deadline day for £15m to hand Guardiola more centre-half options amid the club’s injury woes. Aside from missing the 3-0 win at Wolves due to the birth of his second child, Akanji had played in every game that he was available for since signing before being benched against Copenhagen in midweek.
READ MORE: Coach who gave Akanji debut opens up on City defender’s rise
Akanji hailed his first-team colleagues for helping him to feel at home from the off. “I think the way I play is why they got me here,” the 27-year-old told club media.
“They knew that I could fit into that system, but my teammates made it easy for me on the pitch and they gave me a lot of solutions. The coach and the coaching staff told me what they expect of me before the game, and I try to do that.
“I think in these first four games I have played it has gone really well for me. I try to do it every day in training, so it makes it easier for me in the game.”
Akanji made his City debut away at Sevilla in the opening 4-0 Champions League group stage win. He said that he felt calm going into the match despite having only just signed a few days before.
“I think it was good because there were so many good things happening around me and I was feeling great,” he added. "I was really happy when I came. I didn’t even know if I was going to be in the squad and I didn’t know if I was going to play.
“Obviously, the manager put me in straight away and I didn’t have the match fitness like the other guys because I hadn’t played a lot. But on the pitch, I felt great, my teammates helped me a lot and I could play my first 90 minutes which went really well.”
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