Abdukodir Khusanov: Manchester City sign Lens and Uzbekistan centre-back until 2029
Manchester City have signed Lens centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov on a four-and-a-half-year contract until 2029.
Club sources say the 20-year-old’s fee is worth €40million (£33.6million) plus add-ons.
French side Lens paid just 100,000 euros (£84,000) for Khusanov from Belarusian club Energetic-BGU 18 months ago.
However, he has developed rapidly and made 16 appearances for the Ligue 1 team this season, scoring his first goal for the club in a French Cup tie with Paris Saint-Germain in December.
Khusanov has 18 caps for Uzbekistan and will become the country’s first player to play in the Premier League.
“This team is full of the best players in the world and I can’t wait to meet them and play with them,” Khusanov said.
“And of course Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest coaches of all time and I’m very excited to learn from him and improve my game even more.”
City’s football director, Tiksiki Begiristen, said Khusanov is already “very intelligent, as well as strong, aggressive and extremely fast”.
Guardiola has been strengthening his side this month after a tough run of results left his side fourth in the table – 12 points behind league leaders Liverpool.
City produced their best performance at the weekend when they beat Ipswich Town 6–0 at Portman Road – their biggest Premier League win of the season.
On Tuesday, they travel to the French capital to face PSG in the Champions League – they need a win to boost their chances of reaching the knockout stage.
