Manuel Akanji said a January return to Manchester City was never on the cards ahead of Inter's meeting with Arsenal, who he does not believe are Europe's best team.

Akanji helped City win the Champions League for the first time in 2022-23, overcoming Inter in the final in Istanbul, before joining the Nerazzurri on loan last September.

The Switzerland international has made 25 appearances for Cristian Chivu's side since his arrival, with no other player being used more often by the Inter boss (level with Nicolo Barella, Lautaro Martinez and Petar Sucic).

However, there were suggestions he could return to his parent club this month, due to an injury crisis depriving them of centre-backs Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and John Stones.

City clinched a reported £20m deal for England's Marc Guehi on Monday, though, leading Akanji to say he was always staying put at San Siro.

Akanji said: "No, there was no possibility of me returning to City.

"What happens at the end of the season isn't only up to me, but I'm very happy here, and I hope it can continue. We'll see what happens."

Akanji: "It's a great challenge, we need to be tidy, clinical and ruthless"

Read on here  https://t.co/UYJzfI4p5l pic.twitter.com/6L4uzVfwMz

— Inter  (@Inter_en) January 19, 2026

On Tuesday, Akanji will go up against his old Premier League rivals Arsenal, having helped City pip the Gunners to the title in back-to-back seasons in 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Mikel Arteta's team boast the only perfect record in this season's Champions League and are the Opta supercomputer's favourites to win the competition, doing so in 26% of simulations compared to Inter's 4%.

While Akanji respects the Premier League leaders, he does not agree that they are the best team on the continent, saying: "I think Arsenal are among the best teams in Europe. 

"For me, they're not the very best, but they are certainly among the top sides, so it will be a great challenge, but we are ready. 

"I don't watch much football because I have three children at home, but that said, they have a very deep squad with a lot of quality, and they've shown consistency, which is crucial if you want to compete on multiple fronts."