by Born on February 29, Abdukodir Khusanov is undoubtedly a rarity. In four years, the defender, rejected in his native Uzbekistan, has made his way to a minor club in Belarus before agreeing to join Manchester City from Lens for £33.5m this month. Pending his medical, he will be the first Uzbek to play in the Premier League but – given his success – perhaps not the last.
The nation was fascinated by Khusanov’s rise and delighted that he was now joining the Premier League champions. It is a great source of pride. “Abdukodir means all-powerful in the Uzbek language and it suits him,” says Narzulla Saidullaev, editor of Championat.asia. “He is also known here as “the train” because of his raw power and has become the most famous person in the country. Even people who know nothing about football talk about him. Only two Uzbek footballers have previously played in major European leagues – both in Italy. Ilyas Zeytullaev at the beginning of the century and Eldor Shomurodov in Roma at the moment. Now we have a star in England and it’s a very big story. Many millions of Uzbeks will watch Khusanov’s games.”
Khusanov’s incredible journey began at the Bunyodkor Academy in Tashkent, when her youth coach Sergey Chigodaev told the Guardian: “Abdukodir joined our club at the age of seven or eight. He was born in 2004, but because of his good performances we included him in the boys’ team born in 2002. He was fast and agile, but somewhat small and slim. He was shy and never started conversations himself. On the court, however, he was the opposite of calm: he is a fighter who was not afraid to play against kids who are bigger and stronger than him.”
The young Khusanov was extremely versatile, playing at right-back, as a striker and in central midfield, but there were doubts about his potential. Finally, when Khusanov was 17, the Bunyodkor management decided that he was not strong enough and only gave him a place with the reserves in the third division. Khusanov and his father Hukmat Hoshimov, himself a former midfielder with 13 caps for Uzbekistan, disagreed with the club’s decision and began looking for alternatives.
And so the option to join the Energetik-BGU in Belarus arose. Hosimov was in contact with agents who specialized in the transfer of players from former Soviet republics in Asia to the small club in Minsk. Chusanov became one of these importers and came to Belarus without much fanfare.
“Energetik is a tiny club with very few fans,” says journalist Taras Shchyry, who works for the news website Onliner. “Their stadium only has 1,500 seats and they play on artificial turf. People are used to different players arriving there from Asia and there is no major public interest in them. When Chusanov arrived in 2021, no one paid attention.”
To complicate matters for Khusanov, he was only able to sign a professional contract in Belarus when he was 18, so he had to wait a whole year for his debut and only took part in training. His salary was meager, but that didn’t matter to him. “Money was irrelevant to us. We were only concerned about Abdukodir’s professional development,” says Khusanov’s agent Gairat Khasbiullin.
At 18, Khusanov joined the first team and immediately became a leader on the pitch, which was instrumental in Energetik-BGU finishing second in the league in 2022, which was considered a big surprise. “We called them the Belarusian Leicester,” says Shchyry. Khusanov shone in defense, distributed the ball excellently and even took free kicks due to his accuracy and power from a distance.
The coach at the time, Pavel Radnyonak, already suspected what was coming. “Khusanov’s quality was obvious from the first moment,” he says. “He has a unique combination of immense natural talent and exemplary character. Of course, he needed to be properly nurtured and the manager, Anatoliy Yurevich, developed a two-year individual program to develop Abdukodir based on his specific qualities. We decided that center back would be his best position and that was a huge success. Khusanov is very dedicated, hardworking, respectful and eager to learn. He’s fearless on the pitch.”
Khusanov’s success in Belarus went largely unnoticed in his home country and he was initially left out of the U20 squad scheduled to compete at the Asian Cup in Uzbekistan in March 2023. However, he was called up late and played every minute of a historic campaign as Uzbekistan were crowned champions. They only conceded one goal in six games.
Timur Kapadze, coach of the Uzbekistan U23 national team, who later worked with Khusanov, says: “Abdukodir is very strong physically and very strong in tackles. He is also quick, reads the game well and is technically sound. Another great aspect is that he is very calm on the pitch. Off the field he is a friendly and calm person and a pleasure to work with.”
The triumph enabled Uzbekistan to qualify for the U20 World Cup, held in Argentina in May 2023, where Khusanov’s talents were showcased to a wider audience. Lens’ scouting manager Baptiste Favier was one of those who watched Khusanov in Uzbekistan’s opening game against Argentina. “He surprised me. It was an unexpected discovery and I decided to watch him in three more games,” Favier recently told L’Équipe.
Lens felt they had to act and secured Khusanov’s signing in July 2023 for just 100,000 euros (£84,000). Lens wasn’t the only interested team, but their proposal was the most attractive. Khusanov, who had previously turned down chances of moving to the Russian league, was promised immediate playing time in Ligue 1. “We chose Lens because they offered a clear path forward and that turned out to be the right decision. We are very grateful to them,” says Khasbiullin.
Khusanov spoke neither French nor English when he arrived at Lens, but made an immediate impression. “I found him very confident on the pitch,” says La Voix du Nord journalist Philippe Guilbard. “He just never panicked. In his second game for Lens, he started in the heated derby against Lille and showed great character in his duels with Canadian star Jonathan David. He just got the fans in the stadium on their feet.”
It was not easy for Khusanov to break into the team. During the 2023/24 season, Lens had an established trio of central defenders: Jonathan Gradit on the right, Kevin Danso in the middle and Facundo Medina on the left, but the Uzbek showed what he can do by effortlessly filling in for each of them He performed well in all three positions and impressed his teammates.
“If Khusanov came from a top league, he would have cost 100 million euros,” said Austrian international Danso. Midfielder Angelo Fulgini added: “He is a modern defender that every team dreams of. Former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Brice Samba said he was a “monster” but in a good way. “He really scares me with what he’s capable of. He messed up the hierarchy in our defense. He is destined for a great future.”
He was right and now Khusanov will work under Pep Guardiola. Lens are sad to see him go but happy with the money they received for him and are very proud to have contributed to his development – so much so that they have kept some of his jerseys. “You know these shirts are going to become collector’s items,” Guilbard says. Another good news is that Abdukodir’s younger brother – striker Abdurahim – is going through the Lens academy.
The prevailing belief is that the elder Khusanov will become a star at City. “Abdukodir has been great every time he has played for Lens and he should be ready to take the next step, even if he is quite tall. He always set his sights high,” says another journalist from La Voix du Nord, Sandrine Arrestier.
The journey moves to the next step. Don’t expect Khusanov to talk too much, but do expect him to perform.
