There’s not a lot of positives to pick out for Manchester City right now. But Ian Wright thinks the recent form of one player has been particularly impressive.
Man City look to just have the FA Cup to play for this season, after being knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid earlier in the month, and then losing 2-0 against Liverpool in the Premier League.
Now, there’s 20 points standing between Liverpool in 1st place of the Premier League table and Pep Guardiola’s City in 4th.
There’s rumours that Man City could even sack Guardiola amid this tough run of form. But the long-serving City boss has been backed by Gary Neville to turn things around at the Etihad, with there being a clear need for an overhaul of the playing squad.
During the January transfer window, Guardiola kickstarted his City rebuild with the signings of several younger players, including the likes of Nico who has since impressed Man City fans, and centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov.
Ian Wright hails ‘excellent’ Abdukodir Khusanov at Man City
Khusanov left RC Lens to join Man City in a £34milion deal during the January transfer window. And Guardiola threw him straight in at the deep end which proved to be a mistake, with Khusanov struggling immediately during his debut against Chelsea.
Since, the 20-year-old Uzbeki has steadied himself, and he’s put in some good performances against some of the best clubs in the world. Khusanov stood up well against Vinicius Jr during the 3-1 defeat at the Bernabeu, playing in an unfamiliar right-back role, then he put in a solid performance against Liverpool.
Speaking on the Wrighty’s House podcast, pundit Ian Wright has sung his praises of Khusanov, explaining: “I’ve got some connection with him now. And that’s Khusanov because of the first game and watching the first game, watching his debut, I think he’d been in the country, what, a couple of days?
“You know, didn’t speak the language and everything. Obviously it was one of those kind of debuts that is your worst nightmare. So since then, I’ve just rooted for him.
“I’ve got a real soft spot for him because I think when you move and you go somewhere and you’re in the team, the first-team, and it’s a big team. I remember going to Arsenal, I was petrified, but it’s different for strikers. You can have a couple of bad touches.”
“He was very good against Vinicius, very good. Very excellent he was. And we’re talking about Vinicius, and he’s been thrown into it at City, but now all of a sudden, two, three games, and he’s marking Vinicius… I think that’s a good buy from them.”
Abdukodir Khusanov hits the ground running at the perfect time
Khusanov is no doubt a signing for the future at the Etihad. He’s a player who Guardiola will look to build the next great Man City team around, and it couldn’t have come any sooner.
John Stones has picked up an injury at Man City and so centre-backs are light on the ground for Guardiola. What’s more is that recent reports have revealed that Man City will sell Stones in the summer and so Khusanov finding form, and getting experience ahead of next season comes at the perfect time.
Like Wright says, Khusanov has been very impressive in the last few outings, arguably City’s best player, if not then their best defender.
Man City return to action with another tricky Premier League fixture on Wednesday night, away at Tottenham Hotspur.
