Abdukodir Khusanov overcame a tough start to show something in his Manchester City debut | OneFootball

To say Abdukodir Khusanov made a horror start in his Manchester City debut would be an understatement. His first 10 minutes as a City player couldn’t have gone any worse. He made an error that saw Chelsea take the lead through Noni Madueke. Khusanov then was booked for a rash challenge on Cole Palmer minutes later. But to his credit, he overcame his nervous start to show something. That speaks volumes about Khusanov’s mentality in my book.

It says something about a player when they respond when the chips are down. For Abdukodir Khusanov they certainly were after his first 10 minutes as a Manchester City player. He looked to be struggling with the pace of the game early on. But when Bernardo Silva and his teammates got around him after his horror start to the match you could see the young centre-back lift. He didn’t set the world alight in his debut but he did overcome his early error.

READ MORE: Manchester City needed a leader against Chelsea and Bernardo Silva stepped up when required.

Khusanov looked more assured on the ball before he was substituted. He also made several strong challenges and a crucial block in his debut. All told, he showed plenty. Especially for a young defender in his debut after such a trying set of circumstances. The fact that he was able to overcome his early error speaks volumes about his character. That attribute alone will help him adjust to life at Manchester City. He has the talent to succeed at City, although it will take time for him to settle into life in Pep Guardiola’s squad.

Pep Guardiola believes yesterday’s debut for Khusanov will be a valuable learning experience for the young centre-back. Speaking on Khusanov’s debut Guardiola said: “What I thought was it is not the best start, right? He will take the lessons; he is young and has come for many years. It is not easy. I love the reaction of his mates. He made one training session. He will learn. He is young and he will take a lesson from that.”

Not all debuts for new players go perfectly. We saw that yesterday with Abdukodir Khusanov. But he overcame his early error to show what he is made of. That speaks volumes about his character and mental strength. You couple that with his obvious talent and you can see why City brought him in from Lens and why he has what it takes to make it at the highest level.