Manuel Akanji
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Manuel Obafemi Akanji[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 19 July 1995 | ||
| Place of birth | Wiesendangen, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | FC Basel | ||
| Number | 16 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2004–2007 | FC Wiesendangen | ||
| 2007–2014 | FC Winterthur | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2015 | Winterthur | 37 | (1) |
| 2015– | Basel | 23 | (4) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2014 | Switzerland U-20 | 2 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Switzerland U-21 | 6 | (0) |
| 2017– | Switzerland | 1 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 June 2017. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 June 2017 | |||
Manuel Obafemi Akanji (born 19 July 1995, in Wiesendangen) is a Swiss footballer who currently plays as a defender for FC Basel in the Swiss Super League.
Club career
Akanji started his youth football with the local club in Wiesendangen. In May 2007 Akanji changed clubs and is a youth exponent from FC Winterthur. During his early years he played for their U-18 team and later with their second team. In the 2014–15 Challenge League he was in Winterthur's starting eleven, having played two games for them during the previous season.
On 15 April 2015 it was announced that Akanji would transfer to Basel for the 2015–16 Super League season.[2] He made his Swiss Super League debut on 26 September 2015 being substituted in against FC Lugano. Under trainer Urs Fischer Akanji won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2015–16 Super League season[3] and at the end of the 2016–17 Super League season for the second time. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total. They also won the Swiss Cup for the twelfth time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in the clubs history.[4]
International career
Akanji made two appearances for the Switzerland U-20 national team. His debut was on 7 September 2014 in the 0–0 draw against the German U-20 national team. From 2014 he was member of the Switzerland U-21 team and made his debut for them on 26 March in the 0–3 defeat by the Italien U-21 team.
Akanji made his debut in the Switzerland national football team in the 2-0 win against Faroe Islands in the World Cup qualification match on 9 June 2017. He played the entire 90 minutes.[5]
Honours
FC Basel
References
- ↑ Manuel Akanji on Instagram
- ↑ Ein neuer Verteidiger für den FCB: Manuel Akanji kommt vom FC Winterthur TagesWoche dated 15. April 2015
- ↑ Marti, Casper (2016). "Es ist vollbracht ! Der FCB ist zum 19. Mal Meister". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
- ↑ Marti, Casper (2017). "Der Saisonabschluss im Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2017-06-02.
- ↑ "Färöer Inseln 0:2 Schweiz". SFV. 2017. Retrieved 2017-06-09.
- ↑ "Swiss football: FC Basel wins 3-0 over Sion in Geneva; police extra vigilant after game". allaboutgeneva.com. 25 May 2017.