Dortmund to sign Manchester United target Manuel Akanji

Manuel Obafemi Akanji a target of Manchester United is close to signing for German giant, Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund look to have beaten Manchester United in the race to sign Swiss defender Manuel Akanji, according to German media reports on Saturday.

The 22-year-old centre-back is set to cost Dortmund around 21.5 million euros ($26.2m) from Swiss side Basel, according to German daily Bild, Blick and football magazine Kicker.

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Akanji, who has made four international appearances, was reportedly also being chased by Premier League giants Man United.

Dortmund had reportedly initially offered 15 million euros for Akanji, who cost Basel 700,000 euros from Winterthur just two years ago, but upped their bid after problems in defence so far this season.

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Dortmund have yet to confirm Akanji’s transfer ahead of their first Bundesliga match of 2018 at home to Wolfsburg on Sunday.

Akanji is born to a Nigerian father and Swiss mother.

He started his youth football with the local club in Wiesendangen. In May 2007 Akanji changed clubs and is a youth exponent from FC Winterthur.

Manuel Akanji is born to a Nigerian father and Swiss mother

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.

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 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.