Man City confirm signing of 'really exciting' Abdukodir Khusanov as defender moves from Lens in £34m transfer

The 20-year-old has joined Pep Guardiola's side from French club Lens and becomes the first Uzbeki to ever play in the Premier League. Khusanov is City's first signing of the January transfer window and will wear the No. 45 shirt at the Etihad Stadium

City are expected to make more signings this winter after a disappointing first half of the 2024-25 campaign. The club are also expected to land Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt and the striker could be the next new arrival in Manchester.

He told the club's media: "I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Manchester City, a club that I have enjoyed watching for a long time. This squad is full of the best players in the world, and I can’t wait to meet them and play alongside them. And of course Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest coaches ever and I am so excited to learn from him and improve my game even more. This is a very proud moment for me and my family to be joining a great Club like Manchester City and I’m more than ready for this challenge.”

Director of Football Txiki Begiristain said: “We are very happy that he has joined us and we are all very excited about what he will bring. For such a young defender, Abdukodir is already very intelligent, as well as being strong, aggressive and extremely quick. Working with Pep will only make him better and, speaking to him, he is determined to keep improving. He is a really exciting signing as we aim to keep progressing to maintain one of the best squads in Europe.”

Manchester City face a big week of fixtures as they take on PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday and then host Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.