- Manchester City were told the star would be sold but were warned about the price.
- The youngster brings international and Champions League experience
- LISTEN NOW: It's all starting! New line-up, some new faces, but optimism has faded at Old Trafford
Manchester City have been urged to up their game in their pursuit of a little-known international target.
Mail Sport reported last week that City are weighing up the possibility of signing Lens centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov.
The 20-year-old, who has Champions League experience and has earned 18 caps for Uzbekistan, has also attracted the attention of Tottenham and Newcastle.
And although the general director of Lens says that Khusanov will leave the club, he has warned that so far no approach has been acceptable. Lens are said to want between £21m and £25m.
“Khusanov will leave, (but) there have been no good offers yet,” Lens boss Pierre Dreossi told DAZN.
'There will be departures and arrivals. We will have more than enough quality players to qualify for Europe.
Manchester City have been told to make a 'good offer' for transfer target Abdukodir Khusanov
Lens star is capped by Uzbekistan with French team seeking around £25m
Super agent Jorge Mendes, who trained Cristiano Ronaldo, is in charge of the deal
Will Still, the cult hero, manages Khusanov at Lens, seventh in Ligue 1
“If he leaves and if the offers are interesting enough, it is above all about finding an economic balance.”
Lens are having another impressive season and sit seventh in Ligue 1 after appointing Will Still as manager in the summer. He still gained fame in 2022 when he was appointed by Reims at the age of 30, becoming the youngest manager in Europe's top five leagues.
Khusanov began his career at Energetik-BGU in Belarus, but has become an important player for Lens since arriving in 2023.
That year he entered the ranking of the 200 most promising young people in football, being classified as the fifteenth most exciting centre-back.
Lens have the second-best defensive record in Ligue 1 this season, having conceded 15 goals in 16 games, just one more than Paris Saint-Germain. Khusanov has helped keep seven clean sheets.
Super agent Jorge Mendes, who trained Cristiano Ronaldo, has been in charge of trying to sell Khusanov, as confirmed by Lens sporting director, Pedro López.
'We decided to do it (give the mandate to Mendes),' López told L'Equipe
'We put all options on the table. We analyzed a lot and decided with Pierre (Dréossi, general director of Lens) to sign a mandate. It arose from an analysis of the internal market, the price of a transfer and many other factors.'