Former football player and ex-sporting director of Pahkator Tashkent, Jafar Irismetov, spoke with Telecomasia.net regarding Abdulkodir Khuasanov's debut for Manchester City.
Khuasanov started in the match against Chelsea in the 23rd Matchday of the Premier League, where he made a critical error that led to a goal by Mudryk. The game ended with a 3-1 victory for City, with goals scored by Gvardiol, Haaland, and Foden.
“The debut was a bit unfortunate – you could see that the mistake immediately affected Khusanov. But Guardiola is famous for a reason; he didn’t substitute him until halftime, allowing him to play a bit longer. Khusanov seemed a bit shaken after the mistake, but he recovered. It’s difficult to play under such pressure, since Manchester City is not Lens,” Irismetov said.
Is the risk justified? Guardiola knows what he’s doing. Maybe he let him take the field that early because he had no other options. And when you buy a player for that amount of money, you know what you’re buying. I don’t think this will break Khusanov – he’s young and strong, and there are many games ahead where he can show his talent. We believe in him; all of Uzbekistan believes in him. We will support him.
Khuasanov transferred to Manchester City from French club Lens in January 2025. According to media reports, the transfer fee was 50 million euros, including bonuses.
