The most "quarrelsome" player, who saw Khusanov play, was surprised

At present, the well-known Russian striker Artem Dzyuba, who plays alongside the Uzbek legionnaire Sherzod Esonov in the team “Akron,” holds a special place in Russian football.

The 36-year-old footballer recently brought the number of goals in his professional career to 234, becoming the top scorer in the history of Russian football. In his homeland, he played for such clubs as “Spartak,” “Tom,” “Rostov,” “Arsenal,” “Zenit,” “Lokomotiv,” and also defended the honor of the Turkish club “Adana Demirspor.” The experienced striker has a tough character.

Artem Dzyuba has often been mentioned in the football community and beyond due to conflicts and disputes with several well-known individuals. It can be said that this very “controversial nature” prevented him from shining even brighter.

Recently, the Russian star expressed his opinion about the Uzbekistan national team player and “Manchester City” central defender Abdukodir Khusanov, stating that he had seen the Uzbek player’s matches even before his move to England.

— Khusanov is a top footballer. His game was shown to me by my teammate at “Akron,” Sherzod Esonov. He has known Abdukodir for a long time. The young talent Sherzod said, “We have a guy, he plays at ‘Lens’,” and showed me video clips of Khusanov’s game.

I was astonished when I saw Khusanov’s game. He is not very tall, but he competes in the air as if he is flying.

Then I saw another moment: Vinícius Júnior passed the ball past him, but in terms of speed, he could not outrun Khusanov…

The appearance of a footballer who was playing in some team in Belarus and then ends up at “Manchester City” is a one-in-a-million event, said Artem Dzyuba.

Abdukodir Khusanov, who learned the secrets of football at the “Bunyodkor” academy and left for Belarus while still in his teenage years, truly has a unique life journey. He began his professional career with the team “Energetik-BGU.”

The young defender signed his first professional contract in 2022, and a year later moved to France’s then-vice champion “Lens.” The reason for Khusanov attracting the attention of a number of European clubs was the U-20 World Cup held in Argentina in 2023. Playing four matches as part of Uzbekistan’s youth national team in that tournament, Abdukodir was able to showcase his high potential, which was later especially noted by several specialists, scouts, and coaches.

During his one-and-a-half-season stint in the French league, our talented Uzbek legionnaire drew the attention of nearly twenty clubs from Europe’s top five leagues. During the winter transfer window, “Manchester City” acquired Khusanov for a total of 50 million euros.

The 21-year-old Khusanov, in a short period, became one of the key figures in Pep Guardiola’s team and was named “Manchester City’s” best player in February. Follow “Zamin” news on “Telegram”