Manuel Akanji admits he was trying to 'protect' Man City's £33m new boy Abdukodir Khusanov during nightmare start to debut against Chelsea
Manuel Akanji admits he was trying to 'protect' Man City's £33m new boy Abdukodir Khusanov during nightmare start to debut against Chelsea
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Manuel Akanji admitted he was trying to ‘protect’ debutant Abdukodir Khusanov after the Man City defender endured a nightmare start to life in the Premier League. Khusanov’s weak header back to Ederson led to Chelsea taking the lead in the third minute before he was booked in the fourth minute.
![[Khusanov's Manchester City debut began with a mistake which handed Chelsea the lead]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/26/12/94529345-0-image-a-3_1737894156927.jpg)
The 20-year-old looked visibly shook and though things improved, Pep Guardiola took him off nine minutes into the second half for John Stones as City went on to win 3-1. Akanji, who was at centre-half alongside Khusanov, said: ‘I tried to protect him and not bring him into situations where it could be really tricky, especially against a team like Chelsea who have so many good individual players.
![[The 20-year-old looked visibly shook and was eventually taken off early in the second-half]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/26/12/94529219-0-image-a-2_1737894065275.jpg)
'I just tried to lift him up and tell him not to think too much but to keep on going and maybe play the safer pass back to Eddy (Ederson) in his next action and win his next duel to get his confidence back. I think that's the only thing you can really do.’.
Khusanov was born in Uzbekistan and has spent the last three years playing club football in Belarus and France before City signed him from Lens for £33M earlier in the week. He is the first Uzbek player to sign for a Premier League club. Guardiola added post-match that he couldn’t speak directly to Khusanov as he doesn’t know English yet but Akanji stressed he is confident that his new teammate will overcome the language barrier in time.
