Pep Guardiola bolsters Man City defence after £33.6m move for Lens’ Abdukodir Khusanov
Manchester City have agreed a £33.6 million fee with Lens for Abdukodir Khusanov to bolster Pep Guardiola’s squad for the second half of the season.
Khusanov, a breakout star of French football in the last year, was targeted by City as a player who could compete for a first-team place immediately but, at 20 years of age, would also be a key player in the future.
Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United were tracking the youngster who arrived in Ligue 1 from Belarusian club Energetik-BGU Minsk just 18 months ago but City moved quickly with director of football Txiki Begiristain heading the deal and making a move last week.
Guardiola has admitted the need for reinforcements after a dramatic dip in results for the Premier League champions in the first half of the campaign, although he warned against signing players for the sake of numbers. In his words targets were needed for the next years rather than months.
City in talks with Palmeiras defender Reis
Khusanov was a primary defensive target and the fee agreed does not include add-ons. City have also been in talks over a deal for Brazilian centre-back Vitor Reis, with Palmeiras wanting the teenager loaned back to them for the rest of the season.
Reis, 18, has broken into Palmeiras’s first team and is thought to have a huge release clause attached to his contract, although City will attempt to land him in a deal worth upwards of £30 million. They agreed to loan Claudio Echeverri, 19, back to River Plate last year after a deal was completed last January.
Their primary attacking target is Omar Marmoush of Eintracht Frankfurt, with hopes of a deal worth £50 million plus add-ons being enough to secure the Egypt forward.
Khusanov adds to options at the back as Guardiola has been without Rúben Dias, who will miss the FA Cup third-round encounter with Salford City this weekend, for parts of the season. John Stones has not started back-to-back Premier League matches this campaign, while Nathan Aké has also had injury problems.
Khusanov was signed by Lens for just £83,000 in July 2023 and has attracted scouts from Europe’s top teams after playing regularly this season for Will Still, the Ligue 1 club’s English manager.
