Austria boss Ralf Rangnick has admitted he can “hardly recognise” defender Manuel Akanji thanks to his rapid development at Manchester City this season.
Rangnick was a recent pundit for Sky’s coverage of Manchester City’s win over Arsenal, in which he praised the centre-back in comments relayed by Blick.
Akanji started that game playing in the left-back position as Pep Guardiola rotated his side and went with a move conventional back four system.
It was only the fourth time that Akanji has played that role at club level, having spent the majority of his career playing as a centre-back and, on occasion, a right-back.
It was the latest impressive performance from the 27-year-old, who joined Manchester City in a €17.5m deal from Borussia Dortmund in the summer and has proven to be an absolute bargain since that point.
He’s received praise for his performances on more than one occasion, including from Guardiola, and Rangnick admits he barely recognises the player from his time in Germany.
“You can hardly recognise him compared to his time at Borussia Dortmund,” he said.
“(He) performs with a naturalness, as if he had always played at this level in a team like this.
“(This happens when Guardiola) is so convinced of a player, has fallen in love with a player, works and talks with him so much, develops him.
“It was like with Joshua Kimmich, who Pep fell in love with in Munich.”
