Despite crashing out of the Champions League against Real Madrid for the third successive season on Tuesday night, Manchester City could still point to a number of positives to take away from the evening at the Etihad Stadium.
Whilst the likes of Rayan Cherki and Jeremy Doku were producing some eye-catching football in an attacking sense, there seemed at times to be only one man capable of repelling Federico Valverde, Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr. and the like as Madrid swarmed forward – Abdukodir Khusanov.
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It’s been just over a year since the Uzbek signed for Manchester City as one of the emergency brigade recruited to save the Blues’ spiralling 2024-25 campaign. However, he has already experienced a lot in his short time in England’s north-west.
Khusanov had only been a professional for two years with Belarusian side Energetik-BGU when he was snapped up by Ligue 1 outfit Lens in summer 2023, initially struggling to win a first-team place but eventually becoming a regular in 2024.
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The centre-back’s immense physical gifts of blistering recovery pace and deceptive strength, coupled with a level of aggression allowing him to make full use of his natural gifts, caught the eyes of clubs across Europe, and after just 31 games for Lens, he was snapped up by City in January 2025.
It was an infamously difficult start to life in the Premier League for the 22-year-old as his error allowed Chelsea to score just minutes into his Manchester City debut.
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That was a moment which has proven difficult to shake for Khusanov since, with neutral fans, commenters and pundits seemingly unwilling to judge anything he has done since outside of the prism of that mistake five minutes into his first appearance in the world’s toughest league and without knowing a word of the language.
As regular viewers of City will attest though, that blip was the exception to the rule of Khusanov’s time at the club so far; he was voted Etihad Player of the Month in February 2025, and only a first-half booking against Bournemouth allowing Nico O’Reilly to come on and cement his own starting spot could eventually shut the Uzbek out for the remainder of that season.
Injury and the form of others meant that a brief stint as starting right-back was as good as it got for the defender in the first half of this term, but it was when first-choice centre-back pairing Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol were both struck down with injury – ironically against Chelsea at home, the same fixture to which Khusanov’s City career seems inextricably linked – that the fan favourite came into his own.
Be it next to recalled academy youngster Max Alleyne or January recruit Marc Guehi, Khusanov has barely put a foot wrong since the turn of the year, starting 15 of City’s 19 games since losing Dias and Gvardiol and seemingly earning total trust from Pep Guardiola.
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Tuesday’s ultimately doomed effort against Real Madrid served to showcase how far Khusanov has come in his 14 months at the Etihad.
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That physical prowess we mentioned remains his greatest asset, and one he used to shut out one of the world’s greatest threats in Vinicus Jr. on numerous occasions – save for a highly debatable yellow card on halfway – not to mention a stunning dart back and perfectly-timed slide to deny Brahim Diaz.
Khusanov also completed 58 of his 59 passes against the Spanish giants, highlighting a quick aptitude to Guardiola’s style of play and perhaps one to be expected from a player still so early in his development playing at the top level.
Between his ever-improving communication skills, wowing recovery abilities which never fail to get the Etihad faithful on their feet applauding and his trademark ‘clumping’ tackles which are guaranteed to send opponents spinning into the air, it’s easy to see why Khusanov has instantly ingratiated himself as as big a cult hero among City fans as he already was for the fervent supporters from his home nation.
Even more than that, Tuesday night felt like a true coming-of-age night for the young defender – so despite competition from the likes of Dias, Guehi and Gvardiol – when he returns – it’s difficult to argue with the notion that Khusanov simply has to be on the Manchester City teamsheet now and for years to come.