Abdukodir Khusanov performed well in Man City's FA Cup win over Leyton Orient and there were signs to suggest that he has the potential to develop into a "special player", Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.
The 20-year-old, who signed from Lens for a reported £33.5m in January, endured a nightmare introduction to the Premier League a couple of weeks ago when he made his debut at home to Chelsea, but the defender has since responded well to that early setback.
After being left out of the Citizens side that suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat at Arsenal in the Premier League, Khusanov was brought on at half time in City's 2-1 comeback victory over League One outfit Leyton Orient in the fourth round of the FA Cup last weekend.
Man City levelled shortly after the interval when a shot from Rico Lewis was unknowingly deflected into the net off the back of Khusanov, who celebrated scoring his first goal for the club, before fellow substitute Kevin De Bruyne put the Citizens in front 11 minutes from time.
The Uzbekistan international went on to impress from a defensive perspective, making several strong challenges and some well-timed interceptions to help Pep Guardiola's side edge their way into the fifth round.
'You can see the comparisons to a freight train when Khusanov gets going'
Both Khusanov and fellow new recruit Vitor Reis were given a run-out at Brisbane Road, but it was the former in particular who caught the eye, and McInerney has talked up the qualities of Man City's new "freight train" in defence.
"I think this was a perfect little test for Khusanov and Vitor Reis, the other young centre-back, but Khusanov in particular, given the backdrop of his Chelsea performance - which he did recover well from to be fair, but it was a horror start if I'm being honest for the young lad," McInerney told Sports Mole.
"This game, even though it's only 45 minutes against a lower-league opponent, we saw that recovery pace, he's got a lot of it, he's lightning quick and you can see the comparisons to a freight train when he gets going.
"There's a real motion behind his movement. He looks physical, he looks strong, there were a couple of really nice defensive interceptions as well.
"There was one deep cross to the back post where he could have easily been beaten, but he just managed to get a toe around to tip it past the defender, which was really smart defending.
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Is Khusanov a young Ruben Dias in the making?
"There was a couple of really good shoulder-barge challenges and he was crisp on the ball as well, so you could see why City have signed this guy who's very inexperienced in the grand scheme of things, cost an awful lot of money - City definitely paid a premium there - [but] we can see why City have taken this risk on a young lad with very little experience.
"He doesn't speak a word of English, but you can see the talent. Even if it is just [against] Leyton Orient, he's physical, he's fast, he loves defending, he seems reasonably calm on the ball, it's like we've got a young Ruben Dias with pace.
"If you can hone that, who knows, three or four years from now, we might have a special player on our hands. I think he'll be in the team before then, but in terms of reaching his peak, give him until he's 23, he's speaking English, he's marshalling that backline and I think Khusanov could be a really good player for City."
McInerney has also shared his views on Man City's overall performance away against Leyton Orient and the cameo appearance of new signing Nico Gonzalez, who was taken off after just 22 minutes due to injury.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
