Who is Abdukodir Khusanov? 20-year-old Lens CB completes January move to Manchester City

€12m market value 

©IMAGO

Manchester City’s poor form towards the conclusion of 2024 had been unprecedented during Pep Guardiola’s trophy-ridden reign at the Etihad. Without their midfield hub Rodri, they endured an eight-game winless run, and would now need a miracle to get back in this season’s title race and chase down a fifth Premier League in-a-row. This January transfer window, the club look ready to act. They are reportedly close to bringing in Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush for around €60m, whilst also closing in on the signing of 18-year-old Brazilian defender Vitor Reis for a fee in the region of €40m. However, there is one slightly-lesser known star that has now been confirmed as a new Manchester City player this January.

This Monday Man City have completed a €40m deal with Ligue 1 outfit Lens to sign 20-year-old central defender Abdukodir Khusanov. He has signed a year deal with the Sky Blues, and in a Club statement Man City said, ” So why have the Sky Blues signed the Uzbekistan international this January and what will he bring to the Etihad? With expert insight from France, we analyse just that.

Ronan Caroff is Transfermarkt’s Area Manager in France, and has been watching Khusanov’s career at Lens closely. He expands on the type of centre-half the youngster is: “In appearance, Khusanov is a really physical centre-back, both on paper (186 cm, 84 kg) and on the pitch, often going for close one-v-ones, duels. But he holds a lot more variety to his game, with great quality of interceptions and passes, and decent speed for a centre-back.” Khusanov has played 31 times for Lens in all competitions, with the team keeping 12 clean sheets in that period. When Lens signed Khusanov in the summer of 2023 as a 19 years old, they described him as  “A sort of defensive dragster, he is agile and quick in his movements despite his robustness.”

At just 20 years of age, Khusanov has already made 18 caps for his nation Uzbekistan, and the future looks bright for the young defender. “His ceiling is tough to clearly assess yet, as he went from a substitute in his first year in western Europe (16 games, 1051 minutes) to one of the most hyped defenders in the world in a few months time,” Caroff explained. “Lens had planned to promote him anyways this season, though it should have been a clearer path, if Danso had left for Roma in the summer (failed medical). So, for a club to put their trust in their young talent to fill in the shoes of one of the symbols of their recent seasons is a testimony to the potential Lens saw in Khusanov.”

Many of Europe’s top clubs have previously reportedly shown interest in the defender including Real Madrid and Newcastle, but it now Man City have brought him to the Premier League. It means that manager Guardiola has further extended his mantle as the managers to have spent the most money on defenders since 2016 when he arrived at Man City. The Spaniard has now spent €633.3m on defenders alone in that timeframe. Kusanov has a current market value of €12 million, but that is expected to rise significantly in the future. Asked whether he thinks Khusanov will be suited to Guardiola’s team and the Premier League, Caroff said, “For transfers from Ligue 1 to Premier League, often the fear is about if these players will be able to withstand the stronger physicality of English football.”

“But as presented before, this aspect shouldn’t be a problem for Khusanov. The bigger concern could be about his adaptation to this league, as he only had a season and a half in Lens to get accustomed to higher level of European football, and the Premier League would be a step even further. Plus, Man City’s defence is stacked already, so despite his high fee, I’m unsure how fast he would find his way into the team’s regular set-up.” Getting straight into Man City’s starting XI ahead of the likes of Rúben Dias and Manuel Akanji will no doubt be tough, but in Khusanov, the Sky Blues could have acquired a real star of the future.