Josko Gvardiol said that Manchester City players will help young defender Abdukodir Khusanov to settle at the club after a difficult debut.

Gvardiol was alongside Khusanov for the Premier League game with Chelsea and saw how the Uzbek defender was culpable for the opening goal and then gave away a number of balls in his own third in the opening five minutes. City rallied around the 20-year-old and by the time he was replaced 10 minutes into the second half he was applauded off inside the Etihad and congratulated by senior stars on the bench.

Pep Guardiola did not want to throw Khusanov in so early but was forced to by an injury situation that meant three of his four central defenders were unable to play 90 minutes. While the youngster is ineligible for the Champions League, he will be back in the squad for Arsenal at the weekend and will learn from his first start in English football.

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As he does, he will be supported by his teammates. Gvardiol knows what it is like to be integrated into this City squad after his move from RB Leipzig in 2023, and is now part of the group who are looking after the new signings.

"First of all, he is a nice guy. I haven’t talked to him (because Khusanov does not speak English) but he seems a nice guy," said Gvardiol. "He has done a great job in the last game, it wasn’t easy to make your debut against Chelsea in the Premier League. The good thing is he is still young. We are here to help him with everything he needs."