Chelsea star spotted comforting Man City wonderkid Abdukodir Khusanov during NIGHTMARE Premier League debut

A Chelsea star was seen to try and comfort Manchester City wonderkid Abdukodir Khusanov after enduring a nightmare start to life in the Premier League.

Khusanov, 20, was immediately thrust into the limelight against the Blues, making his debut in defence following his £33.8million move from RC Lens earlier this month.

However, things quickly went wrong for the Uzbek talent, with his weak header back to Ederson leading to Chelsea‘s opener in the third minute.

Visibly shaken by the occasion, Khusanov was shown a yellow card just a minute later for a foul on Cole Palmer, having lost his composure during the opening stages.

This is when Chelsea frontman Nicolas Jackson gave the young defender a comforting pat on the belly, appearing to give words of encouragment to his struggling opponent.

Jackson knows more than anyone of the pressures that the Premier League can pose on a new arrival, having himself first struggled on the English scene following his transfer from Villarreal in 2023.

Khusanov’s Manchester City debut began with a mistake which handed Chelsea the lead

The 20-year-old looked visibly shook and was eventually taken off early in the second-half

Khusanov went on to somewhat find his bearings at the Etihad and though things improved, Pep Guardiola took him off nine minutes into the second half for John Stones as City went on to win 3-1.

The defender watched on from the bench as goals from Erling Haaland and Phil Foden sealed the victory, after Josko Gvardiol’s first-half equaliser cancelled out Noni Madueke’s early strike. 

Khusanov was born in Uzbekistan and has spent the last three years playing club football in Belarus and France before City signed him from Lens last week. He is the first Uzbek player to sign for a Premier League club.

Guardiola came to the defence of his new recruit after the match but revealed that he couldn’t speak directly to Khusanov as he doesn’t know English yet.

The Spaniard told Sky Sports: ‘He doesn’t speak English so I didn’t speak to him. He’ll be fine.

‘He only made one or two training sessions. I didn’t want to push John (Stones) returning from injury – with Wednesday’s game (against Club Brugge).

‘The players were together. That was massively important. Any player can make a mistake. The fans always support the new players. He’s so young. He will learn.’