Manchester City have sealed the signing of Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov for a fee of £34 million.
It's the first of City's expected big spends in January, with summer transfer plans mooted by Pep Guardiola and director of football Txiki Begiristain following the Premier League champions' disappointing start to the season – with £250 million shelled out to boost the squad to breathe new life into.
Uzbek international Khusanov has signed a deal until 2029 and becomes the first Uzbek to play in the English top flight.
He said: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining Manchester City, a club 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 and play with them.” to play.” Besides them, Pep Guardiola is of course one of the best coaches ever and I am so excited to learn from him and improve my game even further.
“This is a very proud moment for me and my family to join a great club like Manchester City and I am more than ready for this challenge.”
Begiristain added: “We are very pleased 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, but also strong, aggressive and extremely fast.
“Working with Pep will only make him better and when I talk to him he is determined to keep improving. He is a very exciting signing as we look to continue making progress to become one of the best sides in Europe to preserve.”
Khusanov is the first piece of City's January puzzle, with Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush soon to follow.
Marmoush, who has 15 Bundesliga goals to his name so far this season, parted ways in Frankfurt last weekend on a £68million contract. Brazilian teenager Vitor Reis, from Palmeiras, and Juventus' Italian international full-back Andrea Cambiaso will also arrive, while River Plate sensation Claudio Echeverri will also join the club following the South American Under-20 Championships.
Add to that Erling Haaland's new contract and City have made bold moves, something Guardiola insisted was a necessity last weekend.
“We're going to try to do something now if we were to do it in the summer,” he admitted. “It has advanced a few months because of the situation. We would not do it (buy new players) if our players were fit, but today I think we have two central defenders, no more than that, and with our midfielders we have it difficult.
“The situation means we have to do it sooner rather than later. After eight years together we have so many players over the age of 30 and the other reason is the amount of problems we have with player availability. It's a completely normal process, especially as we've had fewer than 11 teams in the Premier League in the last five years.
“All the big clubs in the Premier League have done it and now, because our players are not consistent, we have to add players. We have no other option. We have no alternatives.