Manchester City are close to signing defender Abdukodir Khusanov after reaching an agreement with Lens over his transfer, according to ESPN sources.

City are close to completing a deal worth more than £40million for the 20-year-old Uzbekistan centre-back.

His representatives are in Manchester to discuss final details and a medical could take place at the weekend before an official announcement.

If everything goes smoothly, Khusanov will become City’s first new signing in the January transfer window.

Khusanov will now be included in Pep Guardiola’s first team to make up for the loss of Rúben Dias and John Stones due to injury.

Guardiola is short on center back numbers this season, with Manuel Akanji and Nathan Aké each on the sidelines.

Lens should make a notable profit from Khusanov’s move to the Premier League. The defender moved to the Belarusian top flight Ligue 1 club from Energetik-BGU in July 2023 in a deal worth around €100,000 and is now facing an expensive move to City after playing just 31 games for the French club has.

Sources have told ESPN that Lens wanted to keep the defender for another six months but needed to agree on a deal to balance the books after they missed out on more than €40 million in transfer fees last summer when Kevin Danso moved and Neil El Aynaoui failed. Sources said the club had asked super agent Jorge Mendes to find a new club for the much-admired Khusanov this month.

Meanwhile, sources told ESPN that City remain interested in 18-year-old Brazilian defender Vitor Reis. Contact has been made with his club Palmeiras, although they want the youngster to stay with them until the summer.

Eintracht Frankfurt striker Omar Marmoush also remains a target in January. The 25-year-old is valued at around £50m and has scored 13 goals in 15 Bundesliga games this season. City have not yet made a formal offer for the Egypt international, but Frankfurt expect one to arrive before the deadline.