City are close to sealing a deal of around €17.5 million for the defender, who has one year left on his contract at Dortmund.
The 27-year-old is set to leave the Bundesliga team after four and a half years, during which he has played more than 150 matches.
He also played 41 international matches with the Swiss national team. Akanji Dortmund could face City this season after they tied in Group G of the Champions League.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, coach Pep Guardiola left the door open for more work before the transfer window closed, insisting he “doesn’t know” if there will be the ins and outs before Thursday’s deadline.
Akanji is set to become the fifth contractual deal with City in the summer after the arrival of Erling Haaland, Calvin Phillips, Sergio Gomez and Stefan Ortega.
Guardiola will give extra cover at the back as he deals with the injuries of Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake.
City started the season well, but conceded five goals in their last two games and lost 2-0 in four of their last six league matches since last season.
“In six years in the Premier League, we have fewer opportunities,” Guardiola said on Tuesday, ahead of Nottingham Forest’s visit to the Etihad.
“In the last game against Crystal Palace, we conceded a few nets; one corner kick, one free kick and another shot.
“We always score a lot and concede less, and now we score a lot, but we concede a lot and if we don’t stop it will be difficult.
“We can’t always score four or five goals to win matches. It’s transfers and set pieces and if we don’t have more control we will struggle.”
Via www.espn.co.uk
