As his fan club continues to grow by the week, CITY MAGAZINE speaks to our Uzbek diamond and looks at his progress to date….

The speed in which Abdukodir Khusanov has become a crowd favourite at Manchester City is perhaps matched only by his pace on the pitch.

The Blues are blessed with many top defenders, and over the years we have had some of the best in the world, but the popularity of Khusanov is remarkable.

Few defenders in world football can get supporters off their seats (other than when they score a goal, of course), but Khusanov seems to achieve that feat several times during a game, usually with a perfectly-timed tackle or interception and sometimes when his electric pace foils an opposition counter-attack that had momentarily looked unsalvageable.

Khusanov’s speed is, perhaps at worst level with that of Kyle Walker, at best, maybe slightly quicker.

He’s a defender that pretty much has it all, though at 22, he still has plenty of experience to gain – and will do so with the likes of Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake and John Stones to learn from.

He became the first Uzbek to play in the Premier League when he joined City in January of last year, and last month, he became the first Uzbek to win a trophy in England – and he’s likely to continue to achieve many more notable feats for his nation in the years ahead.

In recent months, he was won praise from different quarters, but it seems many pundits and journalists couldn’t help but refer to his debut against Chelsea where a mixture of nerves and language difficulties saw him have a difficult introduction to life in the Premier League.

But it’s hard to think of him putting a foot wrong since – and it’s taken time for the wider world to sit up and take notice of a player Manchester City fans knew was special  almost from the word go.

Looking back on his debut, Kodir reflects: "I stayed calm. Before that match, I hadn’t played for over a month and had only one training session with the team, so that may have had an impact.

"I’m very grateful to Pep. He spent a lot of individual time with me, explaining every detail of the game. We’re working step by step — he doesn’t rush me and understands that I need time."

After continuing to impress in training, he was soon called upon by Pep Guardiola again and scored on his second appearance against Leyton Orient.

He then went on a run of eight games in the first team before injury at Bournemouth ended his season in late March, just when he was getting into top form.

It was hard for the youngster to take, but he accepted it would pass, saying, "Injuries are part of football. During that period, I received great support from my father and my wife."

Khusanov had to wait for his chance to shine again this season, after impressing at right-back for the first few weeks of the 2025/26 campaign before a clumsy challenge by an Arsenal player in the 1-1 draw at the Emirates saw him sidelined for another six weeks.

The nature of his defending means he is perhaps in the line of fire more when it comes to impact injuries.

He would start games against Swansea and Leverkusen, but it wasn't until late December when a defensive injury crisis left the Blues' struggling to field a recognised back four, that Kodir returned to the side.

It's fair to say he hasn't looked back since, playing 20 games since the turn of the year, winning the Etihad Player of the Month award for January - and potentially March, too.

“Coaches love players like him – no ego, no drama just pure defending,” commented former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

And Pep Guardiola has watched his young charge nullify the threat of countless attacking talents – after our 2-1 win at Liverpool, the boss said: "What a game he played" when nullifying the twin threat of Mohamed Salah and Hugo Eikitike. "He doesn't speak like William Shakespeare but he's getting better and better.

"He understands what we want and every time he is getting better. He is so intelligent."

Such was the trust of the manager that he tasked Kodir with playing at right-back and then centre-back in our two clashes with Real Madrid.

Being selected for two huge games must have been a huge confidence-boost for the 22-year-old.

"It was a big responsibility, but I felt calm," he says of the games against Los Blancos. " I give my all in every match and try to make each one my best."

And after our recent Carabao Cup final win over Arsenal, esteemed journalist, broadcaster and author Henry Winter wrote: “In praise of Abdukodir Khusanov. The Manchester City centre-back turned 22 only last month, is still developing his game, still ironing out mistakes, but increasingly impresses with his speed, athleticism and determination. Also his simple but effective distribution and love for the physical fray. At Wembley, his sprint back to dispossess the breaking Kai Havertz was pickpocketing at pace. Khusanov did well in the Carabao Cup final as he gradually got to grips with Viktor Gyokeres. Still prone to a rash challenge. He took out Gyokeres, but the booking didn’t faze him. Re-focused on winning his duels for the next hour.

“His character has never been in doubt. On his City debut in Jan 2025, he didn’t speak the language and had had only two training sessions. He made two early mistakes, gifted Chelsea a route to goal and was then booked for fouling Cole Palmer. But he got on with the game and his career at City. “Our Uzbek Warrior” the club calls him.

“Good scouting. City recruited him from Lens for £33.6m after he’d played only 31 games. Also great initial scouting by Lens when he was at Energetik-BGU in Minsk. Khusanov still has elements to improve, especially in aerial challenges (he’s 6ft 1in), but looks to have many of the strengths to mature into a top centre-half. And he is only just 22.”

Recently, The Athletic named Khusanov as one of the ‘world’s most underrated footballers’ – a list that included Federico Valverde, Bernardo Silva, Joao Neves, Harry Kane, Michael Olisie and Victor Osimhen, claiming the named players receive less recognition than their performances deserve.

They wrote:

"Khusanov is naturally reserved and instead does his talking on the pitch with a no-nonsense approach."

“This season, he has shown clear improvement. His key strengths are pace, strong game reading, and aggressive ball-winning.

“Khusanov is naturally reserved and instead does his talking on the pitch with a no-nonsense approach.

“Such has been the improvement in his form this season that he claimed City's player of the month award for January.”

Former Lens team-mate Kevin Danso once commented: "If Khusanov came from a top league, he would have cost €100m. He has shaken up the hierarchy in our defence. He is destined for a great future."

And-ex-Lens manager Will Still dubbed him a "tank", while in Uzbekistan he is known as ‘The Train’.

Either way, he seems to be on an express track to joining a list of a great Manchester City defenders.

And Kodir, who has just celebrated the birth of his first child, has, in Guardiola, a powerful ally.

"Normally when a player has physicality, it means he does not have to use the head," said the boss. “He has both. That's why on the ball he is getting better and it always encourages me that he will improve.

"I think he can improve - he is always open minded. I have said Manchester City have a player and a central defender for many, many years."

And what of Kodir's own thoughts and hopes for the future?

It's clear the Uzbek wants to win everything with the club that has given him the chance to shine on the biggest stages in world football...

"I’m proud to play for this club," he says. "City have incredible fans who support us both at home and away. in big numbers. Wearing this shirt is a huge responsibility.

"Their support, of course means a lot to us and I'd like to personally thank them - even in difficult moments, they are there. We truly appreciate it.

"We want to win even more trophies for them. And of course, my dream is for us to win the Champions League."

It’s worth noting that in Uzbek, Abdukodir means 'almighty'. Based on what we have witnessed so far, it seems a pretty wise choice by Kodir’s parents…

Interview: David Clayton

A new era at Manchester City beckoned for Kerstin Casparij ahead of the current campaign.

A summer signing in 2022, the Netherlands international had impressed and developed into one of the Barclays Women’s Super League's finest fullbacks in each of her three seasons ahead of 2025/26.

Her committed displays on the field across 87 appearances and her infectious personality off it made her a popular member of the group and earned her fans favourite status among the City faithful.

Ahead of this term, though, she entered new territory at the Club as she was appointed Vice Captain of the team.

Since then, she has driven the team on with her displays and has naturally taken to the role which has helped City relentlessly pursue the title this term.

"I am very person orientated, it’s just who I am as well. Just making sure everyone is okay."

And she says leading by example while helping her teammates as much as she can has been key in her progression as Vice Captain.

“I am very person-orientated, it’s just who I am as well. Just making sure everyone is okay. Also keeping everyone grounded, calm, especially going into this stage of the season,” she explained.

“That’s the most important thing. We work a lot on the culture, and I’m one of the people in all those meetings as well. I find that so important and I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve been doing so well.

“We’re a team and it’s not necessarily based on a hierarchy. That’s worked really well for us.

“I definitely lead by example. That’s one of the things I try to do, I think if you’re a natural leader, you don’t have to shout and that’s not doing it based on hierarchy.

“Doing it based on performance, how you treat people, looking after the players, your relationship with staff, there are so many aspects to being a leader.

“I think leading by example and giving everything in the game is most important. At the end of the day if you need to say something and you’re not doing your best, people aren’t going to be listening to you. And that’s very normal.

“It’s up to me and [captain] Alex [Greenwood] to lead by example and go into every game head first and to fight for the team and they’ll fight for you too. That’s such a great aspect and really important, too.”

After Club captain Greenwood picked up an injury during October’s international break, Casparij wore the captain’s armband for the first time this season in a 1-0 win over West Ham.

The defender then maintained the responsibility across the five matches where the England international was absent as a result of the issue.

And Casparij was honoured to lead the team on the field.

She added: “It meant so much [captaining the team for the first time] because when I got here I was 21/22-years-old, but I was still so young.

“After developing so much as a player at this Club and as a person, to be able to lead out the team and for them to trust me as well because someone can give me an armband and I can wear that, but it doesn’t mean, you’re the captain, but for the girls to trust me and for Andree to trust me – I feel like it’s been such a natural fit.

“It means a lot to me and I’ll make sure the girls are comfortable and confident going into games and they feel as supported as they can. It means a lot.”

As well as taking on new leadership responsibilities at City, Casparij has also adapted to a new role on the field this season following the appointment of Andrée Jeglertz as Head Coach.

The Swede has implemented a 3-4-3 formation with the width being provided by wing-backs and the Netherlands international has taken to the role excellently.

At the time of writing, she has seven assists and three goals to her name and she’s more then contributed in our defensive third, too with the Blues possessing the joint second-best backline in the Barclays Women’s Super League this season.

"I’m really enjoying it and hopefully I can add some to the tally before the end of the season"

For Casparij, she believes Jeglertz’s tactics suited her attributes.

She concluded: “It’s something that came naturally. Previously I was with help from doing that, that’s something I’m really good at is just joining the attack, but knowing when I can and can’t.

“When I need to be higher, when I need to be a bit lower. That’s something I constantly work on with our wingers.

“But also if Jade, as our centre-back, how high does she need to be? Sometimes I need to be lower and closer, it’s been so much fun working with my teammates on where can I be?

“And how do I make sure they’re in a good position and how can we make sure we are the best collectively.

“For me, it’s been great. Having six assists and two goals, I’m really enjoying it and hopefully I can add some to the tally before the end of the season.

“All the hard work from the past couple of years have added up and I’m showing it this year and I’m really pleased with that.”

Interview: Sam Cox

That’s underplaying it a bit really. Laugharne is where Dylan Thomas lived until his untimely death in 1953 in New York City. The town is widely believed to be the inspiration for his magnum opus, Under Milk Wood.

Thomas is buried in the churchyard of St Martin’s. His grave is marked by a simple white cross.

John Cooper Clarke was there for the Laugharne Weekend, an arts festival with performance-based poetry, music, readings etc.

I liked the idea of photographing JCC in a place that was so imbued with the spirit of Dylan Thomas and poetry generally. So, I took him out to see the grave and then we did these photos in the fading light outside the churchyard.

The festival is always magical with unexpected treats.  Patti Smith once played a gig to around 20 people in Dylan Thomas’ boathouse.

It’s a wonderful weekend of exceptional events. If this is your thing and you’ve never been, look it up and get yourself there next year.

Kevin Cummins

City shoot down Gunners!

It was always going to be a difficult 90 minutes, but the Blues worked our way into the game and gradually took command.

The second-half was always a matter of 'when' rather than 'if' City would score and on the hour, Nico O'Reilly headed us into a 1-0 lead.

Just four minutes later, O'Reilly struck again, fizzing a another header past Kepa after great work by Matheus Nunes.

The Gunners could not respond and City saw out the game comfortably, with Bernardo lifting his first trophy as skipper.

Here are some of the best images of the day...

Next to take on the task of building their Academy 5-a-side team, is Elite Development Squad midfielder Isaiah Dada-Mascoll.

Just like his team-mates, he had to abide by the following rules:

The 19-year-old could only select one goalkeeper, one defender, two midfielders and one striker.

See who Isaiah picked for his squad below…

GOALKEEPER:
Oliver Whatmuff - He is very, very good. He's really good with his feet. 

DEFENDER:
Jahmai Simpson-Pusey - He loves doing skills so I might as well put him in as it's good for 5-a-side and then can rely on him defensively too. 

MIDFIELDER:
Dan Rigge - I played with him in Under-16s. He's got great technical ability, reverse passes, all of that. 

MIDFIELDER:
Ryan McAidoo - He is very skilful and technically great.

FORWARD:
Justin Oboavwoduo - For the same reason as Ryan [McAidoo] really. And you can always trust him to get a goal

Interview: Holly Percival

After joining the club aged 10-years-old, Mayzee worked her way up through the Club’s Academy ranks and later became a regular in first team matchday squads for the Blues across the 2024/25 season.

Davies was also part of the City squad to play at the first-ever World Sevens Tournament alongside the likes of Gracie Prior, Lily Murphy and Codie Thomas, whom she played alongside at youth level and developed together all the way to the first team.

Ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, she signed her first professional contract with the Club, but after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament in June 2025 it wouldn’t be the dream start to first team football as she would have hoped.

The versatile defender would have likely gone on to represent her nation at the European Championships, however her recovery process is finally coming to an end and she has appeared back in full team training.

“The actual process, I was obviously really grateful for Tom, the Physio, who got me to this and Charlie,” Davies began

“It's been really smooth and yeah, it's going really well.”

Suffering an ACL injury is a mentally tough time for any player, but for a promising 19-year-old at the start of her career, it’s a massive hurdle to overcome in all aspects.

“I think there was quite a lot of emotion, obviously.

“I was grateful because I think at the start of an ACL injury, you kind of think ‘how am I ever going to play football again?’

“You're on crutches, you can't walk.

“It just proves what obviously we have here, the experience the physios have and obviously there's a kind of a bit of pride there for myself because obviously I've got through the whole process.

"I got to spend a lot of time obviously with myself and I learnt a lot about myself because when you're constantly on the go playing you don't really have time to think about stuff,"

“So, I think a bit of credit to myself as well. I think there's a lot of challenges that come with it.

“I think obviously when you're stuck in the gym all the time when all your teammates are out on the pitch, you can get quite lonely.

“But I think when you do step back on the pitch it kind of makes it feel all worth it because those days don't last forever and it's just getting through there.”

Despite what would have been a tough time, Davies managed to find light of the situation and used the time away to reflect as well as learn things about herself that she didn’t realise she was capable of.

“I got to spend a lot of time obviously with myself and I learnt a lot about myself because when you're constantly on the go playing you don't really have time to think about stuff,” she said.

“I think I spent a lot more time with family and friends, which was nice and I just think that now I think back to the start of the injury, like you kind of think at the start ‘how am I going to get through this?’ and then now I've come out of the other side and I'm like ‘I can’.

“So, I think being mentally tough is a big thing in an ACL injury.”

She also took this period of time away to learn something new and being able to work on the mental side of the game was something Mayzee thought was important to improve her game.

“I've done a lot of work on the psychological part, with people in the club and outside of club, I think, because that was something I struggled with before getting injured that side of the game.

“So yeah, I've done a lot of work on that and I think I've come back mentally in a better place, ready to go.”

Mary Fowler was also in recovery alongside the youngster after also rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament, although this would also be a tough time for the Australian forward, for Mayzee this was a golden opportunity to learn some wisdom from a senior player and also created a bond between the pair.

"I think there is a big togetherness in the group this year,"  

“I think the type of character and person Mary is as well, she brings a lot of positive vibes,” Davies added.

“There'd be a day where I'd be a bit down and she'd always find a way to make something good out of a bad situation.

“I think she's just a really nice person and I think we've really grown closer, as a friendship as well, which has been nice, and yeah, I think she knows that I'm grateful for her.”

A big impact Andree Jeglertz has had on the squad is creating a togetherness between the players.

Taking an already talented set of athletes and breeding a mentality amongst them is something we’ve seen City thrive with so far in the 2025/26 season, even to the point where you can feel it from the stands. You can sense that all eleven players on the pitch are not only putting in 100% for them, but each other too.

Which is something Davies felt really helped her through her injury because everyone else acted like they were in it with her.

“I think there is a big togetherness in the group this year,” she continued.

“I think especially when I first did my injury, I think a lot of the older girls were constantly checking in, even whilst the Euros were on in the summer, when they were away with their national teams, they were checking in, which is really nice.

“And obviously, throughout the whole time I've been injured, they've kind of made me feel a part of the team, which has been nice, even though I've been injured. So I think that has really brought me through as well.”

Davies made her senior Wales debut in April 2024 and says that retaining her place in the Wales squad is one of her next ambitions as well as hopefully getting her hands on silverware.

“I think personally right now is for me to get back to feeling really confident again, training like it was just the normal.

“And I think hopefully I want to get back in the Wales national team as well and get some games there.

“So I think personally that's that and then obviously as the team you want to win trophies hopefully by the end of the year.”

Now as the curtain begins the fall on the 2025/26 season, her main priority is getting back out on the pitch and helping to contribute under the guidance of Jeglertz as he looks to guide us to our first Barclays Women’s Super League title since 2016.

Interview: Alice Wright

champions again, ole, ole!

For a third successive season, City have created history in the ePremier League.

In 2023/24, we became the first club to win the competition twice since its inception in 2019.

Then, in 2024/25, City became the first team to win the ePremier League in back-to-back seasons.

Now, in 2025/26, our FC pros Matias Bonanno and Jafonso carved out more history in the eSports scene, making City the only club ever to win the ePremier League for three successive seasons.

“The comparison to the rest of the titles for me was the same feeling than the first one,” said Bonanno when asked what his latest title triumph with the Club feels like. 

“It's an amazing feeling; it's something you can't explain.

“I feel the same because it's a similar situation than the last season, if we didn't win, we are not going to play eChampions League or World Championship. So it's a similar feeling than the last season.”

The format of the Grand Finals sees each duo representing a Premier League team play a leg each, with the scores combined for an aggregate to determine a winning side.

Bonanno and Jafonso both won their games against Nottingham Forest in the quarter-final and Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final to set up an iconic final against Leeds United which saw former City team-mates Tekkz and Bonanno go head-to-head in the second leg.

The showpiece provided all the drama with Bonanno falling behind on three occasions, including one in extra-time, before the City Argentine showed composure and experience to take a two-goal lead with seconds left to play.

The triumph makes Bonanno the first player in ePremier League history to lift the title for three successive seasons.

And to complete the list of honours for the Club, Jafonso became the first Portuguese pro to win the trophy.

“Yeah, I feel really happy winning the ePremier League, of course, [in] my first year playing for City and in the [ePremier] league,” said Jafonso.

“I think it was one of the most nervous moments I have been in my life!”, he admitted when asked what it was like watching Bonanno take on Tekkz in the final.

“It's way worse watching outside instead of playing. But yeah, I think we built a really good trust this year on the team and I really trust Mati. And yeah, he played really well in the final and we managed to win.”

Below are a selection of images of the duo with our ePremier League trophies…