Borussia Dortmund’s Manuel Akanji linked with potential move to Leicester City

Borussia Dortmund defender and Swiss international Manuel Akanji has been linked with a move to Premier League side Leicester City.

Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji has been the subject of transfer speculation since the start of the summer transfer window. Much of that speculation has amounted to little more than smoke as the player has seemingly found it difficult to find a club to move to after making it clear he wanted to seek pastures new a few months ago.

Most recently, the player has been linked with a move to Premier League side Leicester City, who find themselves in a bit of a transfer saga of their own. Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana seems to be high on the list of players Chelsea have been looking at in recent weeks. Leicester have allegedly rejected multiple bids from the London side, however it would seem that now an agreement has been reached.

Akanji is allegedly their first choice should Fofana make the jump to London, but a potential move may fall through yet again for the Swiss defender. Conflicting reports indicate that the move, as of now, seems unlikely.

This would put Akanji in a compromising position for the coming season. BVB head coach Edin Terzić has left the Swiss international out of his plans for this season. Mats Hummels, Nico Schlotterbeck and Niklas Süle all occupy the available central defender positions and it would take an injury crisis for the player to get brought back into the fold.

Borussia Dortmund initially made efforts to have Akanji extend his contract prior to the end of the 2021/22 season, but with his refusal they were forced to delve into the transfer market, with Süle and Schlotterbeck joining as a result. It remains to be seen whether Akanji will move before the end of the transfer window but both club and player will be pushing to make it happen as it would be the only truly mutually beneficial solution in this situation.