Man City to seal first January transfer! Pep Guardiola's side secure €50m deal to bring in Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov

According to Sky Germany's Patrick Berger, City have submitted a bid worth £41.8m ($51.5m) for the Lens defender, and the highly-rated 20-year-old is keen on the move. This looks like it could be the Cityzens' first signing of 2025.

A number of City players have been injured this season, including Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, John Stones, and Manuel Akanji. Now, Pep Guardiola's men have targeted Uzbekistan centre-back Khusanov to bolster their ranks. The Spaniard said City "have to" strengthen in January and it seems they are edging closer to that goal. The report adds the next target is Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush.

The 6ft 1in defender, who joined Lens from Belarusian Premier League team Energetik-BGU in 2023, has only played 31 times for the Ligue 1 outfit but his rise has been rapid. He already has 18 caps for his country, too.

His Lens team are next in action on Sunday away to Le Havre in Ligue 1. It remains to be seen if Khusanov has played his last game for the French club.