New Recruit: Abdukodir Khusanov

Just over one week into the January transfer window we got the here we go from Fabrizio Romano for Abdukodir Khusanov to move from RC Lens to Manchester City in what is a clear shift from the club into a rebuild mode, to get ahead of the age curve and reinforce the back line. This move would make Khusanov the first-ever player from Uzbekistan to play in the Premier League.

Career Progression

The 20-year-old stayed in his homeland, Uzbekistan, until the age of 18. Born in Tashkent, the capital of the country, Khusanov played for the youth club of Bunyodkor up until he was 18. The same club Rivaldo played for in 2008-10. Then in March 2022, Khusanov moved to Belarusian club Energetik-BGU to play in their top division, made the team of the championship, and the club finished second with him as a regular starter. The following season Khusanov played eight matches in the league until the summer window opened elsewhere and he made the move to RC Lens on 24th July 2023.

In his first season for Lens Khusanov played limited minutes and a smaller role, with only 1,052 across all competitions. But once he started to work himself into the team Khusanov couldn’t cement his place due to National team duty in January of last year. Fast forward to this current season and Khusanov has already surpassed his total from last season with 1,219 minutes across all competitions. Has started 11 of their first 15 matches, missing two due to a red card suspension. He’s in the middle of his real breakout season in Ligue 1, and so the risk Manchester City take is if this move is too early for him. The club is banking on his potential, and Khusanov being ready for some minutes right away.

Khusanov has played for the National Team from U17s through to the senior side. Playing for the U20s team that won the AFC U20 Asian Cup 2023, and was a key player in the FIFA U20 World Cup 2023 for Uzbekistan as they reached the round of 16. The following year Khusanov was involved with the AFC U23 Asian Cup for Uzbekistan as they finished runners-up to Japan. Khusanov was also involved with the senior team at the Asian Cup, securing second place in the group and reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament.

Player Profile

Above I mentioned the different roles he’s played across the backline, particularly with the National team Khusanov is used at his best as a CCB but with RC Lens he’s started matches in all three positions of a back three. Playing more on the right side last season, mostly as an LCB this season.

Khusanov does have the technical ability on the ball to play at Manchester City but will need more encouragement to be expansive, as well as timing it well. Calm on the ball, brushes passes. To learn the details about timing his pass to pull apart the opposition shape. Comparisons to Dias in terms of his box defending, being aggressive against opposition strikers, and use of slide tackles coming across in recovery. With a better recovery pace to track back. Also has a lot of comparisons to Romero (Spurs). Composed aggression at his best.

So these types of situations against opposition attackers are where Khusanov excels. 👇

The pace allows him to get across and make recovery tackles like this one (bottom). As well as get back in front of attackers to win the aerial duel (top). 👇

He’s not a player well-suited to defending out wide, like how we’ve seen Akanji and Ake handle players in those positions. Khusanov has a recovery pace to get back in a straight line but is not well equipped when it comes to being agile, twisting your body to prevent wingers from getting separation, and winning the ball. He can do well in this area but it’ll need some development.

In Ligue 1 this season Khusanov averages per 90 2.49 aerial duels won, at a 69.2% success rate. Something he improved on last season (0.67, 54.5%) all whilst becoming a consistent starter for the team. Interceptions per 90 up from 1.44 to 2.41. You then compare some of his stats across Europe’s Top Five Leagues for progressive passes and successful defensive actions per 90, Khusanov performs highly among U22 central defenders.

You then look into where those defensive actions took place, Khusanov is a defender who’s willing to step up against opposition attackers over the halfway line as shown in the images above, here is them across the pitch this season.

It has to be mentioned, that before the last match, Khusanov was 2nd in Ligue 1 for most interceptions (26) among defenders, with the player ahead of him playing 300+ more minutes than Khusanov. He’s a front-footed defender that’s game is centered on him reading the game well. Whether that’s stepping up to an attacking or into a passing lane to make an interception.

Wider Impact

If the players that are linked to Manchester City have their deals confirmed, it’s quickly beginning to look quite crowded in the squad.

Now Khusanov in particular has played across the back three for RC Lens, and a lot at LCB in a back four. So I’d imagine that he could help Nathan Ake/Gvardiol get a rest. Playing as an LCB to rest Ake. Allowing Ake to play LB for Gvardiol to rest.

Away from anything to do with Khusanov's technical ability and defensive capabilities, let’s just look at the impact he could have on the minutes share. Below is the run of games since the November International break. Whilst Nathan Ake has struggled with injuries, Josko Gvardiol is then unable to get a rest. If Kyle Walker is injured or not in the squad, Rico Lewis then has to play every match without a rest. Then we look at the central defenders, given Stones has been out for most of the season, that has a knock-on effect on the others having to play much more. Increasing the strain, just as we’ve seen in midfield positions.

Since the League Cup defeat to Spurs, Manchester City has struggled to field a consistent backline, the two back-to-back Premier League wins came with the same combination at the back.

So in the short term, Khusanov can provide some rotation across the backline, which will ideally keep more senior players fresh for Important Premier League/Champions League matches. Get a head start on his integration into the team, be ready for the Club World Cup, and start the 25/26 on the front foot. The long term very much depends on how progression at Manchester City, but his profile suggests that they have a successor to Ruben Dias. In the CCB role, as a box defender, and organizer.

For the senior defenders in the summer, I think it’s quite clear that one of them will be moved on and as much as it pains me to say, the likely contender is John Stones due to his injury struggles.

This does have an impact on some younger players coming through. Simpson-Pusey (19) has picked up some minutes this season, getting an opportunity due to injuries in the squad. Max Alleyne (19) is another good young CB at the same age, playing for the EDS and training with the first team. I think both of these players will be considering their options in the summer to go play first-team football. Whether it’s a sale or loan.

Comin through the CFA there is a younger crop of talented young defenders in Stephen Mfuni (16), Kaden Braithwaite (16), Dante Headley (16), and Marlow Barret (16) that they can expect to push for a first-team spot in a couple of years. Their pathway is still open.

Khusanov wears #25 for RC Lens, but that number is taken by Manuel Akanji. He’s worn #3 and #2 for the National team. Both are taken right now by Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias. So I think if Kyle Walker goes he could take #2 but my guess would be #4 which is free and formally worn by Kompany.

I think that when you are trying to rebuild there shouldn’t be half-measures, and so you need to take on risks if you want to get ahead of the age curve and bring in talented players. Once you factor in the situation of the club, it being a January transfer window, these moves were always going to feel too soon. Especially if you want to get a good fee, and not compete with many other clubs in the summer. That all being said, the team right now needs fresh faces as much as it does needs competition for minutes. Khusanov is capable of taking on some minutes in the short term, which means you can move on to a CB in the summer, and is a genuine successor to Ruben Dias in the long term. An approach we should have seen a couple of years ago for Kyle Walker.

If you’re looking for more content on Abdukodir Khusanov then check out this podcast I did with Uzbek Football linked down below. 👇

If you’re looking for a video on Khusanov, here is a breakdown of the player from LNobbins 👇

I’d also recommend checking out these two threads linked below. 👇