Pep Guardiola admitted he hasn’t spoken to Abdukodir Khusanov after his error (Image: Sky Sports)
has revealed he didn’t speak with Abdukodir Khusanov after the new boy endured a difficult debut in the 3-1 win over against .
The 20-year-old only completed his £34million move from RC Lens earlier this week as their first arrival of the January transfer window.
But Khusanov was thrown straight into the deep end after being handed a start against in a crunch encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
And the Uzbekistan international’s nerves played a role in gifting the Blues the opener just three minutes into the game, as his header back to Ederson was intercepted by Nicolas Jackson and finished by Noni Madueke.
The young centre-back was finding the going tough as he was booked just a minute later for a wild lunge on , which was checked by VAR for a potential red card before play continued.
Khusanov eventually found his feet, although Guardiola opted to withdraw the defender only a few minutes into the second half and replaced him with John Stones.
When asked if he had spoken to his new signing after his mistake, Guardiola confirmed he was yet to discuss the incident with his player.
Abdukodir Khusanov’s error allowed Chelsea to score the opener (Image: Getty)
“He doesn’t speak English so I didn’t speak to him. He’ll be fine,” Guardiola said. “He only had one or two training sessions.
“I didn’t want to push John [Stones] returning from injury – with Wednesday’s game [against Club Brugge].”
City recovered from their midweek defeat to PSG by bouncing back against , with goals from Josko Gvardiol, and Phil Foden handing the hosts a deserved victory.
Another debutant, £67m signing Omar Marmoush, also had a goal chalked off for offside as Guardiola showcased his new arrivals.
Pep Guardiola did speak to another debutant, Omar Marmoush (Image: Getty)
But it had little effect in the end as the champions continued their recovery to climb into the top four, with falling to sixth.
Guardiola praised his team and the fans inside the Etihad for sticking together and
“The players were together. That was massively important. Any player can make a mistake,” he added. “The fans always support the new players. He’s so young. He will learn.”
The game arrived too soon for Brazilian youngster Vitor Reis, who arrived for £30m from Palmeiras earlier this week. The 19-year-old was on the bench.