New Manchester City defender Manuel Akanji has admitted he was a Manchester United fan as a child.
Many fans around the globe no matter where they are born support Manchester United. The size, stature, and history of the club make them one of the biggest in the world, with fans spreading out all over the planet.
Now, in an interview with Swiss paper Blick, new Manchester City signing Akanji has addressed comments he made claiming he was a Manchester United fan as a child.
“I gave that interview soon after I joined Dortmund [in 2018] and said I had been a Manchester United fan as a child,” said Akanji.
I’m sure Akanji was unaware he would eventually be joining Manchester United’s rivals in the future, but it’s very common in football for players to support clubs when they are young, but drift away as they go through their career.
“But I also said that when you reach a certain level as a player, you are no longer a fan – as you end up playing against clubs like that,” added Akanji.
We’ve seen with players in the Premier League, such as Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, who both admitted supporting Everton as a child, but have developed into Liverpool fans after playing for them for so long.
Manchester City fans shouldn’t be worried about his affiliation to their rivals, as he’s a complete professional and through playing the game for so long, his support for United seems to have drifted away.