45 | Abdukodir Khusanov - 2025/26

[domalino]

That's exactly what I think will happen. I meant that we will have to see some senior names leave to bring such talent through like Reis and Mfuni.

Mfuni just turned 18, he could quite feasibly be on loan until 2030.

 

[Blue_Lightsaber]

That's exactly what I think will happen. I meant that we will have to see some senior names leave to bring such talent through like Reis and Mfuni.

Khusanov and Reis have done so good, they will be guaranteed starters somewhere if not for us and we will have 80+ offers for them.

Unfortunately no one will offer more than 40 for Dias.
Gvardiol could still fetch 70.
Guehi 60.

We are going to have a hard time keeping all of them happy but I'd probably cash in on Dias this summer.

 

[oldius]

Mfuni just turned 18, he could quite feasibly be on loan until 2030.

He's far too good for that. One more year on loan.

 

[youngbob]

Khusanov and Reis have done so good, they will be guaranteed starters somewhere if not for us and we will have 80+ offers for them.

Unfortunately no one will offer more than 40 for Dias.
Gvardiol could still fetch 70.
Guehi 60.

We are going to have a hard time keeping all of them happy but I'd probably cash in on Dias this summer.

Reis won't be a "guaranteed starter" for any top team next season. Why would you want to sell Dias, Gvardiol, and Guehi?

Nunes Dias Guehi Gvardiol
[new RB] Khusanov Reis Ait-Nouri

These will be the defensive options next season imo. Ake and Stones will go, O'Reilly will be moved into midfield, Mfuni will do another season on loan - probably in the Premier League. There will be enough space for Reis to get minutes and learn from the bench.

The expanded Champions League means our squad just has to be bigger. There are no dead-rubber games in GW5 and GW6 against Steaua Bucharest or Copenhagen anymore. We've seen this season that lesser-fancied players will still get lots of minutes in all competitions and will get lots of chances to express themselves. Can't see many of them moaning.

If we have, say, Arsenal at home on a Sunday afternoon, Inter at home on a Wednesday night, then Everton away on the Saturday evening, then a League Cup game on the Tuesday, you'd expect the defenders to be rotated. Nunes Dias Guehi Gvardiol vs Arsenal, Nunes Khusanov Guehi Ait-Nouri at Inter, [new RB] Dias Guehi Gvardiol vs Everton, then [new RB] Khusanov Reis Ait-Nouri in the League Cup.

Reis is 20. He's got years to learn. He'll have to be patient.

 

[Sam69]

Have you read their pages? Most people just complain about them! Half the people want Dias to be sold and Gvardiol to alternate with RAN for cup games. Khusanov is probably the only defender on here that people are universally positive about.

I read them from time to time, like the post-match pages. Perhaps it happens and I missed it, but in any case, I find it a shame when a player is in contention for man of the match and has delivered 99% of his performances, contributing significantly to the clean sheets. Then people criticize the 1% he could have done better.

As for Khusanov, I think he's been unfairly criticized since his arrival, with flaws fabricated from scratch, such as his lack of skill in ball distribution and passing quality, or his lack of intelligence… and even now, the media continues to talk about his difficult first fifteen minutes in his debut match against Chelsea, ignoring the fact that he's been virtually flawless since.

As for Dias, I disagree with the criticism and those who want him gone.

I've already given my opinion on this: our five defenders for next season should be Dias, Khusanov, Gvardiol, Guehi, and Reis.

I would have liked to keep Stones or Ake for another season or two and let Reis gain more experience at Girona, but both are very injury-prone; they spend most of the season in the infirmary. It's no longer acceptable at this level, and unfortunately, we have to let them go at the end of the season.

Dias, like all players, has his ups and downs in a career. We know his weaknesses, but also his strengths. We still need his experience and his leadership within the group. He's far from finished; he's still young for his position. We can't have only defenders in their twenties; we'll need a different profile.

There will be competition among the four who are ahead of Reis, but that can only be beneficial in raising the level of play. And with seasons getting longer and longer, we'll be very happy when we have the luxury of rotating players without a drop in performance, and especially when we don't find ourselves in the same situation as last January when we lost Dias and Gvardiol at the same time.

 

[Bluewonder]

No we weren't. Teams were knocking it in behind us and doing us on the break because they have no pace between them. The new pairing have elimniated that, it's one of the big reasons we have improved.

No, that's factually incorrect, as we took 35 points from the 14 games they started together and only 26 points from the 16 games they didn't.

 

[Gingers Dad]

What’s Pep being the manager got to do with it? Ha. Think you mean thank God Viana is the DOF.

Anyway, we can’t just keep players because we like them. The books need balancing as well.
Selling Dias now is good opportunity to do that with the other CB options we fortunately have.

So Pep has nothing to do with the players we bring in. He's just told who he's going to work with?

 

[GX Blue]

So Pep has nothing to do with the players we bring in. He's just told who he's going to work with?

This brief chat is going down a pointless boring road I can’t be arsed with. All the best.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Some player, this lad.

 

[freshie]

 

[Berti No Show]

Top defender. I do prefer him to Dias - especially in the new setup. Not writing Dias off though, he's a brilliant defender and has been superb for us, but Khusanov is the future and we should play him as much as we can.

 

[Ethan23]

Top defender. I do prefer him to Dias - especially in the new setup. Not writing Dias off though, he's a brilliant defender and has been superb for us, but Khusanov is the future and we should play him as much as we can.

Yep I'd put Dias bottom of the pile now.

As of right now i'd go

1. Guehi
2. Khusanov
3. Gvardiol
4. Ake
5. Dias

 

[borassic]

Go on lad. Gonna have a manc accent in 5 years when he's City captain

 

[Bigga]

Interesting little tid bits I didn't know about Khusanov, personally!



In conclusion, the vid makes some of the opinions some have of him on BM, is like he's a novice.

Yeah, but not really!

 

[blueparrot]

Khusanov and Reis have done so good, they will be guaranteed starters somewhere if not for us and we will have 80+ offers for them.

Unfortunately no one will offer more than 40 for Dias.
Gvardiol could still fetch 70.
Guehi 60.

We are going to have a hard time keeping all of them happy but I'd probably cash in on Dias this summer.

Doubt we’d sell any of them, we either go with 5 centre backs or more likely 4 and give Reis another loan,probably at a higher level.

 

[chesterbells]

Apols if already posted, but about 24 mins into this is a discussion about him, using a comparison to Ronaldo as a starting point. Thought it was an (the most) interesting part of the podcast tbh.

 

[lonestay]

It's Chelsea today , you just know it's gonna be mentioned .

 

[Worzel Gummidge#9]

One of the best young players in the world.
Absolutely love watching him, he’s only going to get better too.

 

[King Jay]

I don’t care but Kovacic agility is very important . Feel so much safer with him on the pitch

 

[OrigamiNinja]

The man.