Pep Guardiola makes surprise admission when asked why he picked Abdukodir Khusanov vs Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola has explained why he gave Abdukodir Khusanov his first Premier League start in the 3-1 win over Chelsea.
The Uzbekistan international – the first player from his nation to play for a Premier League club – partnered Manuel Akanji in central defence against Chelsea.
The 20-year-old completed a reported £33.6 million move from Lens on Monday, with Guardiola deeming him ready to take on the Blues at the Etihad Stadium.
Khusanov had a nightmare start to the game as he did not get enough power on an attempted header back to Ederson, with Nicolas Jackson capitalising on the loose ball to square it to Noni Madueke for the opening goal.
The centre-back did appear to gradually settle into the game as the half went on but, in what may have been a pre-planned decision, Guardiola substituted him for John Stones on 54 minutes.
Speaking after the game, the Spaniard explained why he trusted Khusanov to play from the start – and stated that the defender had only been able to be involved in ‘one or two’ training sessions with the team before his selection.
“He doesn’t speak English, so I didn’t speak to him,” he said. “He’ll be fine. He only made one, two trainings [sessions].
“I didn’t want to push John Stones returning from injury with Wednesday’s [Champions League group stage] game [versus Club Brugge].
“The players were together – that was massively important. Any player can make a mistake. The Manchester City fans always support the new players. He’s so young – he will learn.”
