Manchester City are now closing in on signing a rapid new star for Pep Guardiola, with the club having tabled a £41m+ bid to land their man this winter.
Manchester City struggling
For the first time since Pep Guardiola’s arrival at the club, reigning Premier League champions Manchester City are in a serious rut of form.
They have recorded successive wins in their last two Premier League outings (Against West Ham and Leicester City), but prior to that had won just one of their previous 13 games across all competitions, including losses that put them out of the Carabao Cup, left them teetering on the edge of Champions League qualification and 12 points off the pace in the Premier League having played a game more than frontrunners Liverpool.
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Man City in advanced talks with £50m ace who’s open to January Etihad move
Pep Guardiola will be hoping Man City are closing in on their first signing of the January transfer window.
The unprecedented run appears to have stabilised somewhat in recent weeks, but the Cityzens are still expected to be active in the January transfer window to bolster their ranks and inject fresh energy into their squad, which has looked exhausted for much of the season to date.
Rodri’s knee injury has seen them target a midfielder, with the likes of Martin Zubimendi, Douglas Luiz and Nicolo Rovella all having been linked as the Etihad outfit look to bolster their options in the middle of the park. Now though, Guardiola’s side could be closing in on a signing who would provide welcome support in another area of the pitch.
Man City submit bid for defender
That comes as Sky Reporter Patrick Berger has revealed that the Cityzens are “on the verge” of signing RC Lens centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov this January. City have “submitted an official bid” worth “€50m including bonuses” [£41.6m] to sign the 20-year-old defender, with the player himself keen to make the move to Manchester in the coming weeks.
Indeed, Guardiola’s side have even gone as far as to offer him a “long term” contract already, suggesting that a deal is almost complete. Signed by Lens just 18 months ago, the centre-back has risen to prominence quickly in France, with teammate Brice Samba dubbing him a “monster” of a player earlier in the campaign.
Though football analysts disagree over his potential readiness for Premier League action immediately, one thing that no-one can deny is his sheer speed. The Uzbek defender clocked a top speed of 37km/h earlier in the season as he ran back to stop a counter attack.
This makes him even faster than Man City speedster Erling Haaland, who was clocked earlier in the campaign with a top speed of 35.7km/h, while he is not far off the Premier League record speed of 37.38 km/h set by Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven last campaign.
With Manchester City looking leggy this season, he will certainly provide energy and recovery pace to Guardiola’s backline, something that they have been sorely missing as a result of Kyle Walker’s rapid decline in recent months. Have the Blues just found their next stalwart in defence?