Manchester City finalizes first signing of the winter window, 20-year-old central defender Husanov joins from Lens

Manchester City announced on Monday evening that 20-year-old Uzbek central defender Abdukdir Husanov has officially joined the club. The two sides signed a four-and-a-half-year contract until June 30, 2029.

Abdukdir Husanov was transferred from Lens. His transfer fee is 40 million euros plus 10 million floating, and he will wear the No. 45 jersey in Manchester City.

Manchester City believes that Husanov's arrival will fill the vacancies left by Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji due to injuries. The club's football director Tiksic Begiristain said in a statement: "We are very happy with his joining and look forward to his performance."

"As a young defender, Abdulkadir is not only very smart, but also has a strong physique, aggressiveness and great speed. Working with Pep (Guardiola) will only make him better. Through talking to him, we can feel that he has a strong enterprising spirit and is eager to keep improving."

"He is an exciting signing," Begiristain concluded. "Our goal is to keep going forward and keep the squad at the top level in Europe."

Abdukdir Husanov studied in the youth training of the Uzbek Creators and joined the Belarusian State University Energia team for 800,000 euros in March 2022. After a year in Belarus, he moved to the French Ligue 1 Lens club, contributing 4 goals and 4 assists in 37 games in all lines.

During his time at Lens, Husanov, who was born in February 2004, showed amazing defensive potential. So far, he has played 24 games for Lens in Ligue 1 and played twice in the Champions League and Europa League respectively. Since the start of this season, he has played 16 times as a starter for Lens, made 1 assist, and helped the team limit the number of goals conceded in the league to 18.

After completing the transfer, Husanov said: "I am very happy to join Manchester City, which is one of the clubs I have been following very closely for a long time."

"This team has the best players in the world and I can't wait to play alongside them. Guardiola is undoubtedly one of the greatest coaches in football history and I am very much looking forward to learning from him and further improving my own game."

"Joining such a great club as Manchester City is an incredibly proud moment for me and my family. I am fully prepared for the challenge."

"I am the first Uzbek player to play in the Premier League, but I believe this is just the beginning. There will be more Uzbek players coming to the Premier League in the future. The interest in football in Uzbekistan is growing day by day."