Rio Ferdinand has heaped praise on deadline day signing Manuel Akanji after a “confident” debut for Manchester City in their 4-0 win over Sevilla in Tuesday’s Champions League opener.
The centre-half was brought to the club by Pep Guardiola to provide ample cover amid numerous injuries among his defenders. Kyle Walker and John Stones sat out the win in Spain, while Aymeric Lamporte was still sidelined.
Akanji missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Aston Villa due to the birth of his second child just days after making the move over to England. But the 27-year-old helped his side keep a clean sheet on his City bow, and impressed BT Sport pundits Ferdinand and Joleon Lescott with his performance.
READ MORE: Guardiola compares Akanji debut to teammate
The centre-back clocked up 29 Champions League performances with former clubs Borussia Dortmund and Basel prior to his move to Etihad. And that experience is something Ferdinand noticed when assessing his display against Sevilla.
“I thought he was very confident. It shows he has had a lot of experience at this level with his previous clubs, and coming here it is a very astute signing from Pep Guardiola,” he told BT Sport.
“A man of his experience in the Champions League in a good footballing league, he has played international football as well, and it didn’t surprise me when he came here, he fitted like a glove and will be called upon many times this season and put performances in like that.
“We spoke about it at the start of the season, if defenders when they come into these situations, they don’t want to be defending all the time, they want to go through the game smoothly and without being called upon and he did that very well.”
Lescott added: “He was in the right places at the right time and that is the exact performance you want as a centre-half and if you can get through the game being comfortable and getting used to your surroundings, that is great. He looks to be a great signing.”
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