Details revealed on how Abdukodir Khusanov's transfer to Lens took place

Gayrat Khasbiullin, the agent of defender Abdukodir Khusanov, spoke about the process of the player's 2023 move to the French club Lens.

He mentioned that they flew from Tashkent to Istanbul in economy class with Khusanov. Then they headed to France, where the player's career at Lens was set to begin.

"I asked Khusanov: 'Do you realize you are flying to a Top-5 league?' He replied: 'Honestly, I thought they would sell me to Russia.' I told him that everything had turned out exactly as he wanted," the agent recalled.

According to Khasbiullin, during the very first conversation with Khusanov, he was asked where he wanted to play. The player gave a short answer: In Europe.

At that time, there was also serious interest from Russian clubs. They offered large sums of money. Some people around him even advised him: 'Play for Sochi for two years, then you can go wherever you want.'

The agent stated that such a path often does not guarantee a player's move to Europe. That is why the European option was crucial for Khusanov.

Lens spotted Khusanov at the U-20 World Cup in May 2023. The club's scout had come to the tournament to monitor the Argentina national team's center-back.

Argentina's opening match was against Uzbekistan. In that encounter, Abdukodir Khusanov caught the scout's attention.

The scout called the Lens head scout and asked to stay for Uzbekistan's second match as well. The reason was that he was impressed by the young Uzbek defender.

After the second match, the scout prepared a report and video highlights of both games and sent them to the Lens head coach. After watching Khusanov's performance, the coach asked the club to sign him.