Although it is not anticipated that Manchester City's mid-season spending would stop there, they have reportedly reached an agreement to pay €40 million (£33.6 million) to sign Lens center-back Abdukodir Khusanov.
This month, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur showed interest in Khusanov, a 20-year-old Uzbekistan international who only joined Lens for a pitiful €100,000 (£84,000) 18 months ago. The 6'1 right-footed player, who made the big move from Belarusian team Energetik-BGU Minsk in 2023, hovered around the periphery of the French club's first-team roster last season.
According to The Athletic, Khusanov is set to sign a four-and-a-half-year contract with Manchester City after becoming a reliable cog in Will Still's defensive rearguard.
For Pep Guardiola's struggling champions, the acquisition of a raw center-back is only the beginning of what looks to be a busy January transfer window.
According to Fabrizio Romano, City is "close" to finalizing a deal for Omar Marmoush, a forward for Eintracht Frankfurt. After the Bundesliga team established a high asking price of €80 million (£67 million), a transfer for the former Liverpool target seemed to have stalled. However, City and Marmoush had reached a personal agreement, and they are currently "progressing fast" in their talks with the club over a fair price.
As early as next week, there may be an official announcement.
Guardiola sees Marmoush as the "ideal player to replace Julian Alvarez," according to Romano. Over the summer, Atletico Madrid purchased the Argentine World Cup champion for an estimated £81.5 million.
The only player that came to the Etihad in the summer transfer window with any of the same traits as Alvarez was the aging offensive midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.
Erling Haaland has been left to shoulder the goal-scoring responsibility in the absence of another attacking outlet. Josko Gvardiol, a left-back, is the team's second-leading scorer with just four goals this season, while City's prolific number nine has an outstanding 16 Premier League goals. The only other player with more than two goals in the top division this season is Mateo Kovacic, who is three.
In his first 15 Bundesliga games, Marmoush scored 13 goals, which is only surpassed this season by Harry Kane of Bayern Munich.
Additionally, City is in advanced talks with Vitor Reis, a center-back for Palmeiras, as Guardiola's team looks to the transfer market in a last-ditch effort to turn around a season that has seen them fall to sixth place in the Premier League standings.
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