Pep Guardiola spent much of his press conference after Manchester City’s straightforward 4-0 win over Southampton on Saturday discussing the impact of his summer signing from Borussia Dortmund. But this time it was the other one.
Erling Haaland did score the fourth goal against Saints but it was the performance of Manuel Akanji, a ?15m signing from Dortmund on deadline day, that was the focus. Akanji had been asked to play out of position at right-back and made it look very easy indeed.
The 27-year-old Switzerland international had already shown his value to City by doing a very good impression of Ruben Dias in the centre of defence against Manchester United. Here he was slipping in seamlessly to replace the injured Kyle Walker instead.
<div class="sdc-site-video sdc-article-widget callfn" data-account-id="6058004149001" data-amp-iframe-embed="" data-asset-id="b7f38763-53c5-41d6-a5e4-931e3aedae58" data-asset-path="" data-asset-version="" data-autoplay="" data-auth-config=" Puyol apologises for 'joke'
Keane demonstrates outrageous MMA kick!
Neville: Klopp’s gone from heavy metal football to bass guitar
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights from Manchester City’s win over Southampton in the Premier League
Everyone is beginning to notice just how good Akanji is – not that he will welcome the attention. “He is very pleased all the [spotlight] is on Erling,” said Guardiola. “It is perfect. He is at home with the family. Studying mathematics and these kind of things.”
Those maths skills were showcased in a recent interview with Sky Sports in which Akanji’s multiplication ability was challenged. His intelligence is proving more than a quirk. It is helping him to adapt quicker than even Guardiola had anticipated.