Manchester City beat Manchester United to signing of centre-back, Fabrizio Romano reveals

Manchester City beat their city rivals Manchester United to the signing of Manuel Akanji, it has now been revealed.

The summer transfer window was one of great change for both Manchester clubs.

For Manchester City, that was in the form of both incomings and outgoings.

All of Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Raheem Sterling, and Fernandinho left the Etihad Stadium, with the former two both joining Arsenal in big-money moves.

As for arrivals, the likes of Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland have significantly strengthened the Premier League champions in an attacking sense, with Kalvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez, and Stefan Ortega Moreno signalling improvements in defence.

Over at Manchester United, and there were big money moves for the likes of Antony and Casemiro at the start of the Erik ten Hag reign, but it now appears as though one name was missed out upon by those responsible for decisions at Old Trafford.

According to the information of Fabrizio Romano, Manuel Akanji was also an option for Manchester United in defence this summer.

However, the man responsible for identifying the Swiss international at Old Trafford was no longer at the club for a deal to seriously progress.

Romano explains that the former Borussia Dortmund centre-back was mainly admired by former interim manager Ralf Rangnick, who had already left his position at Old Trafford.

Subsequently, Manchester City moved for him late on in the window, in a deal that is proving to be even more important to Pep Guardiola and his squad with each passing day.

The signing of Akanji has further been highlighted as taking on greater importance through injuries.

On Monday night, Manchester City's John Stones appeared to sustain a hamstring injury while on international duty with England.

The severity of the problem remains unknown at this stage, although an update is expected to be provided by Pep Guardiola on Friday afternoon.

Elsewhere, Aymeric Laporte has also been recovering from surgery undertaken earlier in the summer and continues to recover ahead of a crunch run of fixtures throughout October.

Up next for Manchester City is the 188th Manchester derby, where they host neighbours United at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.