Newcastle United could have signed Abdukodir Khusanov this month ahead of Manchester City, if they’d simply tried for a deal sooner.
That’s according to his agent, Gairat Khasbiullin, who has provided details on the dealings behind Khusanov this month to Championat.
Khusanov was confirmed as a Manchester City player earlier this week, joining the Premier League champions in a €40m deal from Lens.
The 20-year-old is the first of three new faces to arrive at the Etihad this month, with Vitor Reis and Omar Marmoush joining him this week also.
Manchester City have won what had been a race between English clubs for Khusanov, who had earned himself plenty of admirers in the Premier League over the last year.
He had been earning glowing reviews after joining Lens in 2023 and several English sides had taken notice of him.
They were first linked with a move back in October and continued to be named as suitors from there, with several different reports putting them in the mix for the defender.
Khasbiullin now insists they were indeed keen and, in fact, were close to winning the race at one point in time.
“Newcastle was very close to the deal. They even remained one of the favourites, and then was the last to leave the race with City,” he said.
“As far as I understand, financial fair play also had an impact. Well, they didn’t have enough time. Perhaps if they had made an offer earlier, they would have had time to come to an agreement.
“Then City put so much pressure on Lens that it was difficult to make a comparable offer. It was also influenced by the fact that the French needed this money.”
