Rating the top 10 January 2018 transfers and their progress in one year

How will the most expensive player in the winter transfer window fare?

#7 Manuel Akanji ( FC Basel to Borussia Dortmund)

If Akanji keeps improving at the rate he is now, the day won't be long when he reaches his dream team. His dream, by the way, is The Theatre of Dreams.

Manuel Akanji after some sparkling performances with FC Basel moved to Germany. Borussia Dortmund paid a sum of about €21.5 million to acquire the services of the Swiss.

Akanji was bought to add depth to the defense of Borussia Dortmund. He played only 10 games last season for Dortmund. If we remove Bayern's 6-0 routing of Dortmund, they conceded only nine in nine matches when Akanji played.

Akanji average two tackles per game in the 2017/18 season, more than Benjamin Pavard and Jerome Boateng, two of Bundesliga's best.

This season Akanji has already featured in 13 out of 18 games for Borussia Dortmund. He has built a solid partnership with Dan Axel Zagadou at the back.

Dortmund has conceded the least number of goals in Bundesliga this season, along with Leipzig and Monchengladbach. (18)

Akanji's comparison with respect to his last season shows his improvement as a defender. His interceptions have gone from 0.6 to 1.3 this season.

His tackle rate is at 0.8 per game and the foul rate is at 0.2 per game. If he is getting 3 out of four tackles right, then it is amazing, isn't it?

He is still young but after Sokratis left, he has done well to hold the lines along with Zagadou.

Rating: 7.5/10

Verdict: Akanji has improved massively from last season and hasn't let the void left by Sokratis disturb the team. He is rated higher than Bartra due to his progress and impact on the team.

Edited by Alan John