How Lens discovered Khusanov revealed

Gairat Khasbiullin, the agent of Manchester City and Uzbekistan national team defender Abdukodir Khusanov, spoke about how the footballer’s career developed and which Russian clubs had shown interest in him. Khasbiullin discussed this in an interview with Sport-Express.

According to Khasbiullin, French club Lens scouted Khusanov during the 2023 U-20 World Cup in Argentina.

“A Lens scout had come to the tournament to watch Argentina’s central defender. The first match was against us, and he liked Abdukodir’s performance. He called the club’s chief scout and said: ‘Keep me here for Uzbekistan’s second match as well, I really like this boy here.’ Then he watched the second match too, prepared a report on the two games and sent it to the head coach. The coach said: ‘Find him for me,’” the agent said.

He said that a year before this, he had made many trips to offer Khusanov to European clubs.

“Many people had saved my contact details. Then the French side contacted me through agent Andrey Stepanov. After that, negotiations with Lens began very quickly. The sporting director and head coach said they believed in Abdukodir and saw him as a future replacement for Kevin Danso. Interestingly, in the end, Khusanov was transferred even before Danso,” Khasbiullin said.

According to the agent, Khusanov’s move to Belarus was not a random decision either.

“Anatoly Yurevich was working there. He is a coach with a strong reputation for developing young talents. Abdukodir is still grateful to him. I know he planned to meet Yurevich after the World Cup,” he said.

Khasbiullin also confirmed that Russian clubs had been interested in Khusanov.

“Yuri Syomin asked me why Russian scouts had not noticed such a talent in time. In fact, they had noticed him. In addition to Sochi, Alania also wanted to sign Khusanov. At that time, he was already playing for Belarusian club Energetik-BGU,” the agent said.

He emphasized that Khusanov’s main goal had always been Europe.

“At that time, almost no one knew Abdukodir. He left for Belarus at the age of 17 and had not even played for Bunyodkor’s reserve team. His dream was always Europe. I think even if a Russian club had made an offer at that time, Abdukodir would have refused. Even today, many talented young Uzbek footballers do not want to play in the Russian Premier League. This is partly due to the league’s international isolation. Footballers with big ambitions try to go directly to European clubs,” Khasbiullin said.

For reference, in the winter of 2025, Abdukodir Khusanov moved from French club Lens to English side Manchester City for 40 million euros. The Uzbek defender signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with the Cityzens, running until the summer of 2029.