Manchester City duo Adbukodir Khusanov and Bernardo Silva have previous with both Chelsea and Bournemouth
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 16: Bernardo Silva of Manchester City speaks with teammates Marc Guehi, Rodri and Abdukodir Khusanov in the dressing room during half time during the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Chelsea and Manchester City on May 16, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 16: Bernardo Silva of Manchester City speaks with teammates Marc Guehi, Rodri and Abdukodir Khusanov in the dressing room during half time during the Emirates FA Cup Final match between Chelsea and Manchester City on May 16, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling - The FA/The FA via Getty Images)
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Bernardo Silva and Abdukodir Khusanov on Saturday at Wembley
Abdukodir Khusanov against Chelsea: we've been here before. In case it had been forgotten despite being alluded to every time he played, Khusanov endured a horrible first five minutes on debut against the West London club last season.
It was so bad it has lived long in the memory, and yet it really didn't last that long. The Uzbek international was fine by the end of the first half, and has been imperious for City pretty much ever since.
One thing that really helped Khusanov when he was struggling was Bernardo Silva. The midfielder, who spoke last week of how important he thinks the feel of a game is, dropped deep alongside the centre-back to help him out in that game in January 2025 and settle him until his confidence had returned that he could get through the contest.
It was exactly the sort of intuition that made Guardiola change the habit of his coaching career and insist that Silva was the City captain this season, spotting what a champion for the team he could be. But it also reassured City that a young player who could have shrunk after a nightmare start instead stood up and showed his spirit.
Fast-forward 15 months and Khusanov has played more minutes than any other City centre-back this season and was starting his second cup final of the campaign as City took on Chelsea again. Another clean sheet brought another trophy, even if his strong defending in the penalty area left Chelsea frustrated that they weren't given at least one spot kick.
There was a moment early in the game that showed how things have changed for Khusanov. He won a free-kick on the edge of the City box and Silva was there again to pick the ball up for him, before placing it down and allowing the centre-back to knock it short to him to restart play.
It was all over quickly, but spoke of two players who were in complete sync with each other and showed how much Khusanov has grown at City. His English is apparently better than it is suggested it is, but more importantly he speaks the City language so well now that it is automatic to link with Silva in a way that on that first appearance everything seemed so alien.
Khusanov may have left himself at the mercy or referee Darren English with throwing his weight around in the box - Chelsea interim coach Calum Macfarlane thought they should have had at least one penalty - but it was another performance that made it feel like the 23-year-old has come of age at City. Where once he was a rookie needing help to get through the game, now he is bossing it at the back for City and making a case to be one of the defenders they rely on most.
And so onto Bournemouth. Khusanov wasn't even at City for their last league game at the Vitality, an afternoon that sparked more alarm bells for Guardiola than he thought possible as the team that had won everything showed to the manager that they would not win again.
Four months later, the centre-back was taken off at half-time in the FA Cup quarter-final at Bournemouth and didn't play a single minute for the rest of the season. There were questions in the summer about whether he would keep his place in the squad for this year.
Silva played in that FA Cup tie at Bournemouth and then spoke furiously after the game of his anger that people were writing him and the team off. "In the last eight seasons, we've won six Premier Leagues and for four bad months, we're old?" he said. "That’s people that don't understand the game, never played the game and probably don't understand a thing about football."
Silva and Khusanov were back at Bournemouth on Tuesday, keeping their places from Wembley when they lifted their second trophy of the season. And while the captain was sacrificed early in the second half as City chased an equaliser, Khusanov stayed on for the whole game as he passed 3,000 minutes for the season to cement his status as the centre-back that has been used most by Guardiola this season.
If Bournemouth was almost the end for Silva, it feels like an exciting beginning for Khusanov at City.