Abdukodir Khusanov must have wondered what he's walked into at Manchester City.

First came a dizzying debut that saw an horrific error in the opening minutes of a high-tempo Premier League clash with Chelsea after being thrust straight into the starting XI because of injuries to three centre-backs. The 20-year-old was hoping for a calmer night on Wednesday watching his teammates in the Champions League, only for a merchandise kiosk to catch fire next to the stage where he was about to be unveiled to fans with the event cancelled and supporters evacuated.

A fiery start on and off the pitch has not daunted Khusanov, especially after the support he has been given from his new squad and fans. A number of offers have come his way since the end of last season in many different countries, but the defender was so set on the Premier League that he started learning English a few months ago.

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Those who know him from his time in Lens can attest that his French was never brilliant and his speaking English at this point only resembles what most Brits abroad can offer up, but the intent is there. To learn the language, to thrive at Manchester City, and to be one of the best players in Asia.

Khusanov has already become the first player from Uzbekistan to play in the Premier League, and that makes him the new poster boy of a country increasingly mad about football. As one source quipped: 'Manchester City now have 30 million new followers'.

Not quite, but in a population of 36 million there were already City shirts being sold with Khusanov's name on the back before his transfer had been confirmed and Uzbekistan flags have flooded City's official social media channels. Daily views from the country on City's Youtube channel surged by 900 per cent when his move was announced and in the past fortnight has been responsible for more views on there than any other country; there have also been bumps in registrations and hospitality packages purchased.

"Uzbekistan is one of those countries where a lot of people have an English team," explains Conor Bowers, an expert on Uzbek football. "It may not be Man City, but people are so excited for a player from their home country to play for an English team.

"They view it as the first big move that will put Uzbek football on the map and the hope is that routes that would have been closed - because it's not that big clubs would have disregarded that part of the world - but they wouldn't have necessarily sent resources out to look.

"Uzbekistan are kind of like the Tottenham of Asian football. They have so much promise and opportunity but they always bottle it. They've never made a World Cup. They could have gone in 2006 but there's a backstory of them failing to qualify and failing to do things from positions which they should."

For country and now for club, Khusanov will hope to start picking up the trophies that help Uzbekistan to be seen in a more positive light. There was some grumbling in the country at the way his transfer to the Premier League champions was reported in Russia but it was taken as a sign of how the nation is emerging after they ended centuries of Russian rule by declaring independence in 1991 - 13 years before Khusanov was born.

It was a surprise though, for all involved. Newcastle was a far likelier destination for the defender for a long time and he likely would have moved there but for the PSR rules that the Geordies are far closer to than City are.

Txiki Begiristain certainly wasn't planning on signing any defenders in the January window, yet a centre-back injury crisis that began in October and is yet to subside forced the Blues to bring forward their plans. Khusanov is ahead of where everyone thought he would be, and now stands alone carrying the expectations of an excited nation in the Premier League and Champions League.

"He's part of a mini golden generation. There's been a heavy focus by the Uzbek FA in youth development and the youth teams went from being a team that qualifies for U20 and U23 Asia Cups to being teams that can win it," said Bowers. "That's quite a recent development and now you're starting to see players like Khusanov getting to the senior national team.

"He has been viewed in the last couple of years as the one with the most potential but he's not the only one with potential because there are players coming through U17s, U20s and players who were in the Olympic squad, are all viewed as being players with potential that could play in Europe.

"The move to Lens was big because it was another level and it was a massive jump from playing in Belarus to playing in Ligue 1 so it wasn't that it was surprising but similar to Lens to Man City you would have thought there would be a club in the middle to bridge the gap. If you were to ask me a few months ago where he would go, it would be to a Sporting or a Sevilla.

"There's a player who Khusanov has always been paired with, a very small winger called Abbosbek Fayzullaev who plays for CSKA Moscow. They've both progressed from the U20s where they won the Asia Cup to the U23s, both were in the Olympics and they were both seen as the young shining stars of Uzbek football.

"One went to Lens, one went to CSKA and he will probably move to a French or a Spanish team in the summer. Khusanov is at Man City so he will be the most high profile one by far."

The fitness of John Stones will likely determine whether Khusanov is thrown straight back into the team at the Emirates to continue his baptism of fire, but as he plans to help City build their new future there will be millions of new followers tuning in for it.