What Manuel Akanji's surprising Man City career tells us about Jeremy Doku and Pep Guardiola

ETIHAD STADIUM, MANCHESTER — Pep Guardiola was keen to lavish praise on Manchester City’s best player against Liverpool.

Erling Haaland opened the scoring before Trent Alexander-Arnold’s late strike ensured Saturday’s early kickoff at the Etihad Stadium finished 1-1, allowing Arsenal to leapfrog both teams with victory over Brentford and move to the top of the table.

Nevertheless, Guardiola was buoyant afterwards in his own idiosyncratic way.

“It was a masterpiece,” the City boss said of his star man's performance. “He played moving at the right tempo, the right moment, breaking the lines, contact with the wingers. 

“It’s really, really, really good. Hats off. The game in Chelsea was the same.”

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But Guardiola wasn’t talking about Jeremy Doku, whose relentlessly dazzling play down the left wing twisted Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip and a host of other Liverpool players into uncomfortable shapes over the course of the afternoon. He was praising Manuel Akanji.

The Switzerland international arrived from Borussia Dortmund on transfer deadline day last August to none of the fanfare that accompanied Erling Haaland making the same trip a couple of months earlier. On the face of it, City had paid £15million ($17m) for a fifth-choice centre-back. 

As it turned out, Akanji’s instant understanding of his brief from Guardiola and his unexpected versatility made him a vital component in a treble-winning side.

A career centre-back, the right-footed Akanji was pressed into action as an emergency left-back in the high-stakes clash with Premier League title rivals Arsenal in April and the Champions League semifinal, second leg