As Manchester City prep for their trip to Paris Saint-Germain, for a Champions League clash on Wednesday night, the club have announced their first January transfer window signing- Abdukodir Khusanov. The Uzbekistan international helps beef up a part of the team that is badly in need of reinforcement- central defense.
After all, John Stones probably won’t play against PSG, as his return from a foot injury seems to just keep getting delayed.
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While Khusanov may not feature against PSG, he is certainly quite familiar with them, as he makes the move over from the French Ligue 1. Khusanov, 20, joins City from RC Lens. A club statement, attributed to him, reads:
“I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Manchester City, a club that I have enjoyed watching for a long time. This squad is full of the best players in the world, and I can’t wait to meet them and play alongside them.
“And of course Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest coaches ever and I am so excited to learn from him and improve my game even more.
“This is a very proud moment for me and my family to be joining a great Club like Manchester City and I’m more than ready for this challenge.”
While the winter version is always the less consequential and exciting of the two transfer windows, this edition, overall for all clubs, has been moribund. There has been so little activity, and unbelievable as it may be, very few headline grabbing rumors, this time around.
Honestly, if you forgot the January transfer window still even exists this month, I wouldn’t blame you.
Getting back to injury news, Oscar Bobb and Rodri remain out for City. Regarding PSG, Marquinhos and Ousmane Dembele face late fitness tests. And then finally, Ibrahim Mbaye remains out until about the end of the month.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America and RG. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.