It is set to be a busy January switch window for Manchester City.
In the summertime, the four-in-a-row Premier League champions recorded round £126m of revenue, signing Savinho from inside the Metropolis Soccer Group for a reported £30m, however recorded huge revenue because of the gross sales of Julián Álvarez (£81.5m), João Cancelo (£21m), Liam Delap (£20m), Taylor Harwood-Bellis (£20m) and others.
Thus, Pep Guardiola‘s aspect ought to be capable of spend large this month, ought to they so select.
Including defensive reinforcements will certainly be a precedence, contemplating Kyle Walker, Rúben Dias, Nathan Aké, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Joško Gvardiol have all intermittently missed matches because of numerous accidents thus far.
Alongside 20-year-old Rico Lewis, the Sky Blues have simply seven defenders for 4 positions, so there is definitely area within the squad for an additional defender, maybe probably two, to reach in January.
Man Metropolis trying to signal younger defender
In response to a report by Rob Dawson of ESPN, Manchester Metropolis are ‘in talks’ with Lens as they intention to signal Abdukodir Khusanov.
Moreover, Steve Pearson of TEAMtalk believes the Ligue 1 membership worth their centre-back at round £25m, though this determine is unclear, with Luke Entwistle of Get French Football News believing his price ticket to be €40m (round £33m).
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In an interview with DAZN France on Sunday, previous to Lens’ Ligue 1 fixture in opposition to Toulouse at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, basic supervisor Pierre Dréossi confirmed Khusanov “will go away” the membership this month, after the defender was overlooked of les Sang et Or’s matchday squad for his or her first recreation of 2025.
So who’s Khusanov, and why do Manchester Metropolis imagine him to be the person to repair their defensive points?
How Abdukodir Khusanov might increase Man Metropolis’s defensive choices
The 20-year-old Uzbek worldwide started his senior profession with Enerhetyk-BDU Minsk in Belarus, earlier than becoming a member of Lens for a miserly €100,000 in July 2023, and what an distinctive piece of enterprise and scouting that has confirmed to be.
Thus far, he is made 31 appearances for the French aspect, starting each of their last 14 matches that he was accessible for, sitting out two because of suspension, previous to Sunday’s loss by the hands of Toulouse, overlooked by English supervisor Will Nonetheless.
At worldwide degree too, he is rapidly established himself as one of the first names on the team sheet for Uzbekistan, starting all three matches eventually summer time’s Olympics, whereas the White Wolves are at present in a powerful place in World Cup qualifying, on track to make it for the very first time.
Ought to he be a part of, Khusanov would turn out to be the primary participant from Uzbekistan to characteristic within the Premier League, the 125th different nation to be represented.
The younger defender’s performances have been incomes rave evaluations, labelled as a “future legend” by expertise scout Jacek Kulig, so ought to he make the transfer to Manchester, supporters needs to be enthusiastic about what they’re set to see.
After all, Man Metropolis have already got many high-quality, expensively assembled centre-backs of their squad, so how does Khusanov examine to his, potential, future teammates?
|
Khusanov vs Man Metropolis centre-backs in 24/25 |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Statistic |
Khusanov |
Gvardiol |
Dias |
Akanji |
Stones |
Aké |
|
Appearances |
13 |
25 |
17 |
21 |
10 |
10 |
|
Minutes |
975 |
2,116 |
1,315 |
1,785 |
494 |
653 |
|
Cross completion % |
88.1% |
92% |
94.3% |
94.1% |
93.5% |
93.6% |
|
Tackles |
15 |
37 |
11 |
17 |
7 |
9 |
|
Blocks |
17 |
31 |
11 |
15 |
3 |
7 |
|
Interceptions |
26 |
25 |
15 |
8 |
4 |
4 |
|
Clearances |
57 |
63 |
37 |
48 |
12 |
17 |
|
Aerial duals received % |
69.2% |
54.5% |
63.4% |
44.7% |
73.3% |
55.6% |
As emphasised within the desk above, Khusanov faces stiff competitors if he is to determine himself as a daily starter at Manchester Metropolis, however he actually boasts the attributes to succeed.
His go completion %, whereas just a little decrease, is comparable, whereas, of the six gamers analysed, he ranks third for tackles, second for blocks and prime for interceptions.
Gvardiol, the second-most expensive defender of all-time, sits prime for extra metrics than anyone else, and is Man Metropolis’s best-performing defender this season, according to Sofascore.
That mentioned, Khusanov shares lots of the similar attributes, notably in his capability to play out from the again, underlining that he would greater than seemingly be successful ought to he be a part of the Premier League champions.
Like Gvardiol, who was just one 12 months older when he moved to Eithad, it might additionally sign the arrival of top-of-the-line younger defenders within the recreation. That actually bodes effectively for the Residents.
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