Confusion as Manuel Akanji denies transfer rumours on Instagram

Confusion has arisen as Manuel Akanji has publicly denied reports of a fee being agreed for his sale to Galatasaray. This follows Fabrizio Romano claiming a deal was in place for about £15m earlier today between the Turkish champions and Manchester City.

Manuel Akanji on Instagram responding to new reports of a £15M agreement between #ManCity and Galatasaray for him. 😳 pic.twitter.com/jBRk48GbNk

— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) August 20, 2025

Timeline

Reports began to emerge on August 18th that Galatasaray were finally prepared to advance on their summer-long interest in Manuel Akanji, one of three City players the Turkish champions have shown interest in alongside Ederson and İlkay Gündoğan. It was reported this morning that the clubs were close to an agreement, and shortly afterwards Fabrizio Romano claimed a deal had been agreed for around £15m, which would be around the same fee that City paid Borussia Dortmund for the player back in 2022. Before much discussion could be had about this, the player himself responded via the comments under Romano’s Instagram post about the transfer, stating “don’t know anything about that”. This has since lead to Romano clarifying that while a fee has been agreed between the two clubs, no formal offer has been made to Akanji. This still would be strange however, as it implies the player himself was completely in the dark about the negotiations between the clubs.

🚨⚠️ After club to club agreement, Galatasaray will make their offer to Manuel Akanji in 24h.

No proposal on the table to the player yet and currently no indications from Akanji on intention to accept destination.

Deal agreed between clubs, but not done with the player yet. pic.twitter.com/rt5vB61Vun

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 20, 2025

Conclusion

While it is a very strange situation, it does not necessarily mean that a deal for the player to move to Turkey is off. According to Romano, Galatasaray are set to approach Akanji within the next 24 hours, so presumably more updates will come soon. City are not generally a club that will force players to leave if they are unwilling, so the likelihood of a move rests entirely on Galatasaray’s ability to convince Akanji to join them.