Everything is going way too fast for Kodir Khusanov. After a few months of adaptation, the Uzbek defensive rock, recruited for €100,000 during the summer of 2023, was promoted to the starting position last summer under the aegis of Will Still. Quickly, the Lensois defender became essential, both within the Artesian club and in most European scout indicators where his name appeared almost first on each report.
It is therefore not surprising to see around fifteen European clubs coming forward for several months. But the shift took place in the fall when the sporting director of RC Lens gave an exclusive mandate to Jorge Mendes to find a way out of the northern club’s highest market value. After testing the waters with PSG at the end of November, it was with Real Madrid and Manchester City that the insatiable Portuguese super agent did the job.
An offer of €50 million should allow Manchester City to win the bet
In Lens, and as Pierre Dréossi mentioned last weekend, a sale of Khusanov is necessary to replenish the coffers and generate added value almost never seen in Ligue 1 in recent seasons. In recent hours, the English club, which had already met last week Jorge Mendes and RC Lens in the presence of the player’s father Khikmatzhon Khoshimov and his agent Khasbiullin Gairat, decided to spend the second in parallel with the Marmoush files (the Frankfurt striker who already has an agreement with City) and Brazilian defender from Palmeiras Vitor Reis.
According to our information, an offer of €50 million was sent to RC Lens in recent hours by the English club. An amount that fits perfectly with the expectations of the Artesian board, which will be able to approach the coming months in a more serene manner. For his part, the player and his entourage, who have always proclaimed that they wanted to favor the sporting aspect over the financial aspect, were seduced by the arguments of the Cityzens despite the absence of discussion between Khusanov and Pep Guardiola. The next few hours therefore promise to be decisive in this matter. But in the absence of competition, it is difficult to see, unless there is a last minute bidding war, which could prevent Kodir Khusanov from joining Manchester City this winter.
