Sport

Who are Manchester City’s new defenders, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis?

Is there even more to come?...

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 21st January 2025

Manchester City have revealed their first two signings of the January transfer window but most fans will be unfamiliar with the names Khusanov and Reis, so who are they and why is the club so excited about the new defensive duo?

While Man City still have a couple of other deals in the pipeline (at least one of which looks to be close to completion) the acquisition of centre-backs Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis is important for two main reasons.

For starters, Pep Guardiola has been looking to bolster his defensive ranks for a while now given recurring injuries and the imminent departure of Kyle Walker. Secondly, it’s always a big win to have beaten the competition in the race to sign two prospects who have been on the radar of several clubs.

Perhaps it’s best to first start with Khusanov and why his arrival not just at the Etihad but in England is significant, as Khusanov is the first Uzbekistan to ever represent Manchester City and play in the Premier League full stop. Historic.

Speaking in his first interview as a Blue, Khusanov declared: “This is not just for me but for Uzbekistan. The first Uzbek in the Premier League but I’m sure this is only the beginning. More Uzbek players will come and play here.

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“There’s growing interest in football in Uzbekistan. For this reason, everybody there wants to qualify for the World Cup, we are just one stop away from qualifying.”

Born in February 2004, he’s already enjoyed 18 caps for his national team and is backed to be one of the future stars within a new generation looking to put their country on the footballing map.

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A scout’s dream

Joining from RC Lens on a £33.6 million deal plus add-ons until 2029, the Uzbek centre-back was only picked by the Ligue 1 club relatively recently, having made the switch from Belarusian team Energetik-BGU for just £84,000 a little over 18 months ago.

Fast forward to Monday, 21 January and he has now found himself in the most competitive league in the world and that’s no accident: Khusanov has already impressed the European scene with his natural strength, aerial presence, pace, ball control and timed tackling, just to name a few standout traits.

It didn’t take long for his exploits at Lens to be noticed by scouts, with the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United said to have been two of his earliest suitors; Man City and Leicester followed soon after along with other names from around the continent such as PSG, RB Leipzig and Atlético Madrid.

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Having made 16 club appearances this season and scored his first goal in the French Cup against PSG – one which nearly saw them advance to the next were it not for penalties – he was bound to be snapped up by someone but CFG made sure they were first. But what about his fellow new arrival?

More Brazilian brilliance?

As for fellow youngster Vitor Reis, he’s another promising centre-half prospect signed from Brazilian club Palmeiras for a reported fixed fee of £29.4m.

The 19-year-old arrives in the Premier League from his boyhood club which he’s been at since the age of 11, having recently broken into the first team and making 22 senior appearances across all competitions. He only made his debut back in June 2024.

Donning the 22 shirt, he is already drawing early comparisons with new teammate Rúben Dias at his age which will be music to era City supporters’ ears given how crucial the now 27-year-old deputy has been to their success since 2020.

Hyping the youth product up, the head of Palmeiras’ academy, Joao Paulo Sampaio, said: “Technique, speed, courage, you name it. Tactically, he’s a leader and understands the game like few others. And his mental strength is a joke. The kid is complete.”

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Big words indeed.

As for Reis, he highlighted that he’s been a captain since he was little and when City called, there was no doubt. He also went on to insist that he’ll be a good fit for the system, adding: “They like to play with a lot of possession, I also like to play that way […] every kid that loves football is certainly watching Manchester City.”

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We think it’s safe to say Blues can be understandably buzzing with the deals done so far.

Judging by what those in the know are saying about these two players, it looks like both Khusanov and Reis have everything you want in a defender on paper, at least. How they take to life at the Etihad and to the English game, we’ll have to wait and see.

Moreover, Pep might not even be done with the new intake just yet either, as it is thought that a deal for Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush has already been agreed also, with the Egyptian currently on his way to sign his contract.

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Fabrizio Romano has also reported that a verbal agreement has been reached for another defender in Juma Bah from Real Valladolid, though it is believed he will be loaned to RC Lens following the Khusanov transfer. Regardless of the ongoing FFP and PSR investigations, City aren’t shying away from business.

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Featured Images — Supporterhéninois (via Wikimedia Commons)/Manchester City

Sport

Thomas Tuchel quote from early interview as England manager comes back to haunt him

Danny Jones Danny Jones Thomas Tuchel clip talking about England hasn't aged well

A quote from one of Thomas Tuchel’s first interviews as England boss looks to have come back to haunt him online after his squad limped out of the 2026 World Cup following their semi-final defeat to Argentina.

Ironic seems to be the word being thrown around the most…

The Three Lions fell at the penultimate hurdle against the genius of Lionel Messi and their old foes in ‘La Albiceleste’, despite grabbing the opening goal and looking the more dangerous on the counter-attack for large parts of the match.

Conversely, many have been quick to criticise Tuchel for his tactics and decision to go more defensive after taking the lead, not only sitting back but taking off some more advanced players who could have provided. Cue what some have called a “damning” clip rearing its head on social media…

While it might still be a valid point in relation to why previous manager Gareth Southgate’s couldn’t cross the finish line not only at the last Euros but in Euro 2020 as well (the latter of which we also scored first in), it now feels rather hypocritical to many given how lots of fans believe he tried to see out the tie.

There’s plenty of fair comments about England’s style and gameplan(s)/lack thereof – even at times this past few weeks – but they nevertheless managed to make it yet another semi-final.

It’s worth noting, by the way, that this is the third time they’ve reached this point in the knockout stages across the previous quartet of major competitions, just for a little worthwhile perspective on how far the national team setup has come over the best part of the last decade.

And that’s not including a quarter-final finish in the 2019 Nations League, either.

Of course, we also made it through to the last four at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where the team bowed out to a ruthless France side by arguably playing too open, but they still showed attacking intent and tried to win the game back then.

It’s that distinction in approach, it would seem, that has left the vast majority of supporters, pundits and English people who were watching on last night so frustrated, as much like his remarks above back in March 2025, it looked as though the idea was to sit back and hang on to their slim advantage.

As evidenced by the comment and numerous reposts, countless people couldn’t agree more with reporter Tim Vickery’s analysis of what went wrong, or rather what changed, which then led to letting Argentina gain the ascendancy and our downfall.

To put it into numbers, between the 67th and 92nd minute, the players had little more than 7% possession, with only a few touches in the opposition box; in fact, Harry Kane didn’t manage to receive the ball even once inside the penalty area.

Now THAT, we would agree, can be seen as ‘damning’ statistics and stuff to hear, especially when the German coach has already claimed that England have been guilty of being too scared to lose in big fixtures in the past. Here’s what he had to say this time around:

Do you agree with his post-match thoughts?

Credit where credit is due, he didn’t mince his words when it came to accountability and certainly hasn’t shied away from being brutally honest through this tournament.

You only have to look at his words after a narrow victory in the quarters against Norway – which star man Jude Bellingham took umbrage with last week – to know he takes responsibility and his own standards very seriously.

Who knows whether the issues came from the technical area, or the players themselves simply struggled to keep their confidence to stick to the task; all we know is we’re gutted not only with the result but by the manner in which we lost. What did you make of the

It might not come as any real consolation, but in case you missed the news, Lionel Scaloni’s side do look like they are due to be punished for a provocative, politically-charged statement after full-time.

Argentina facing disciplinary action for controversial banner after beating England
FIFA have fined them in the past.

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Featured Images — ITV Sport/BBC (screenshots via YouTube)

Sport

Micah Richards reveals dad ‘unexpectedly’ died shortly before going on air for England v Argentina last night

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Micah Richards has revealed that his dad died shortly before he went on air for the World Cup semi final last night.

The former right back – who most-notably played for Manchester City for a decade from 2005-2015, and for the England national team from 2006-2012 – was one of the BBC’s pundits providing on-air analysis last night as England faced Argentina in a highly anticipated semi final of the 2026 FIFA World Cup last night.

The two teams faced off in Atlanta, and while goals came from both sides, it was ultimately Argentina that reigned supreme – securing a 2-1 win over the Three Lions.

But while much of the country is grieving the fact that football won’t be ‘coming home’ (well, for another two years at least), Richards is grieving on a deeper level.

He took to Instagram after the loss last night to share with his 1.4m followers that shortly before he went on air, his father Lincoln passed away ‘unexpectedly’ – calling him the ‘proudest parent possible’ in a touching tribute.

“He has left us all too soon,” Richards began in his tribute.

“Hwas my greatest fan. He barely missed a game my entire life. He would take me wherever I needed to go when I was a kid and he was the proudest parent possible during my professional career. It was so rare for him to not be by my side.

“I know how much watching England World Cup games means to everyone at home, and how the experience bonds families together across the generations, like nothing else.

“I know, particularly as a proud old-school Yorkshireman, dad would’ve wanted the show to go on this evening. And so it did.”

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Richards closed out his tribute by saying that he was thinking of his siblings and wider family as they all remember Lincoln.

“[He was] my hero and inspiration.”

Featured Image – BBC (via YouTube)

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