Borussia Dortmund are reportedly struggling to sell rumoured Arsenal and Manchester United target Manuel Akanji due to the defender’s high salary demands.
According to Sport1, many clubs have been deterred from signing the Swiss international this summer due to his €13m-a-year (£11m) salary demands, with Dortmund themselves also asking for €30m (£25m) for Akanji, financial barriers that many teams are simply not willing to match this summer.
With Arsenal and United two sides linked with Akanji, it now looks highly unlikely that either Premier League giant will move to sign the defender this summer, though as per the report, Dortmund could still sell the former FC Basel star with Juventus and Inter Milan still interested in the 27-year-old centre-back, with the latter an interesting option.
Akanji is being eyed by Inter as a potential replacement for Milan Skriniar, who could finally be set to move to PSG according to the latest reports, with the Slovakian defender linked with the French giants for the majority of the summer transfer window, and this deal could open the door for the Swiss international to sign for the Serie A giants.
Indeed, Dortmund are seemingly desperate to sell Akanji this summer, and with Arsenal and United now out of the race to sign the defender based on their business earlier in the window, Inter is slowly becoming the Bundesliga side’s best shot at offloading the Black and Yellow star.
With just one year on his current deal, Dortmund could be tempted to lower their asking price for Akanji to something more realistic, and if Inter are able to sell Skriniar to PSG, the 27-year-old would be an ideal replacement for the Serie A superstar this transfer window.
Dortmund selling Akanji to Inter would be the ideal outcome this summer
Akanji was always going to be a difficult player to sell this summer for Dortmund given the defender’s high salary demands and the nature of the market post-Covid-19, yet Inter could be ideal for the centre-back if they can offload Skriniar in the coming days.
After all, Inter will have the funds to match Akanji’s salary as well as meet Dortmund’s valuation for the defender, and for the player himself, the Italian giants are an alluring proposition given their huge history as well as their involvement in next season’s UEFA Champions League.
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