Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany is excited by the arrival of Abdukodir Khusanov and believes that it is "very obvious" that incoming director of football Hugo Viana has played his part in the defender's transfer to the Etihad Stadium.
The Citizens announced on Monday evening that Khusanov has officially joined the club on a four-and-a-half-year contract, with the 20-year-old arriving from Lens for a reported €40m (£33.5m).
Man City have moved for Khusanov - and are also on the verge of signing 19-year-old Vitor Reis from Palmeiras - at a time when Pep Guardiola is keen to bolster his defensive options due to the club's injury issues and their ageing squad, while the concerning mistakes made in that department also need to be addressed.
The Citizens are currently the worst team in the Premier League at defending inside their own penalty box, according to data recorded by markstats.club, with opposing teams having a 35% cross success rate against Guardiola's side.
John Stones, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji have all suffered with injuries this season, and Man City have been without at least one of their four centre-back options in each of their last 18 games across all competitions.
McInerney has described Khusanov as an "absolute tank" - as has the defender's former manager Will Still at Lens earlier this season - and believes that he has the attributes to develop into an important first-team player at Man City.
Can Khusanov help rectify Man City's defensive woes?
Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: "I didn't really know who he was until City were linked to him to be honest, but I've done all the research, I've spoken to a few people who follow the French league from my channel and, to be honest, I'm quite excited by him - he looks like an absolute tank!
"It's very obvious to me that City are recruiting a certain profile of player. I saw a stat come out recently that showed that City are by far the most generous team in the Premier League in their own box. If you were playing against Brentford or Newcastle, about 20% of crosses against them are completed, so one in five crosses would find an attacker.
"For City, it was 35%, so slightly over one-in-three chances - that by far is the worst in the Premier League. The conclusion is that if you have five crosses against City, you're arguably going to have a couple of chances - we're bad at defending in the box.
"A lot of it's been down to, I would argue, multiple factors. Ruben Dias has not being in the team an awful lot. John Stones has not been in the team a lot due to injuries - they're both good in the air and they're strong. Rodri has not been there and he is also good in the air and strong, but also has a natural tendency to trap the runners from deep, where [Mateo] Kovacic and Bernardo [Silva] don't.
"Maybe having 5ft 5in Rico Lewis at full-back (has been a factor). He's not going to win the crosses and Josko Gvardiol's formed has dipped a bit as well, and Kyle Walker too. I think City need physical players in there, people who love the art of defending, who are strong, aggressive, and this is where Abdikadir Khusanov comes into that.
"He has a little bit to go in terms of his pure technical ability. He's probably closer to Dias on the ball than say Stones on the ball, and there's no shame in that because Dias is still perfectly comfortable playing in a heavy-possession system, but like Dias, Khusanov also shares that extreme hunger for defending.
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Are Man City taking a risk in signing Khusanov?
"He's aggressive, he is physical, he's not the biggest guy on the pitch, he's not 6ft 5in, he's about 6ft 1in, but he's built like a tank. He's broad, he's physically strong and he's fast too - he's very fast.
"I've read quite a lot about how his temperament is really good. He's one of those silent warrior types where he doesn't say much, [but] he speaks loudly with his physicality and his actions (on the pitch)."
Considering Khusanov only made 31 senior appearances for Lens over an 18-month period after joining from Belarusian outfit Energetik-BGU for just €100,000, McInerney added: "It's an insane risk for City... it could be brilliant, it could also be ridiculous and I am very curious to see how this goes.
"The only thing I'm reassured by is he looks like the kind of person who will not stop at all until he proves someone wrong. There seems to be a real steamy focus to him and I think City are usually quite good at signing these young talents."
Although Man City's incoming director of football Viana will not replace Txiki Begiristain until the summer, McInerney believes that the Portuguese chief from Sporting Lisbon has been involved in the Citizens' capture of Khusanov.
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'Khusanov is the kind of person you want to go to war with'
"I think this is very obviously a Hugo Viana influence as well," he added. "If it wasn't City paying for Khusanov and it was Sporting instead, where Viana's come from, he would probably be £15m instead of £30m because that's sort of the Man City tax.
"Then he would have been at Sporting for two seasons and someone would have paid £85m for him. It feels like that kind of signing, but City have got ahead of that a little bit and gone for it."
Discussing Khusanov's first-team prospects under Guardiola during the second half of this season, McInerney said: "I don't know how much Khusanov will be involved. I think he's going to be on watching duty a little bit, but that physicality, that strength, that hunger, it can take you a long way in football, especially when you're already technically good, especially when you've already got those leadership qualities that he seems to have.
"He's quiet, but he's strong and the kind of person you want to go to war with. I'm very excited for him. I think he's going to take a long time to establish himself in the City side, but City need that injection of hunger."
Khusanov will wear the No.45 shirt at Man City and he could be available to make his debut for Guardiola's side in Saturday's Premier League clash with Chelsea at the Etihad.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
