Manchester City are without three of their senior defenders for most of the rest of the season following news of Nathan Ake's surgery.
MADRID, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 19: (L-R) Ruben Dias of Manchester City, Abdukodir Khusanov of Manchester City during the UEFA Champions League match between Real Madrid v Manchester City at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on February 19, 2025 in Madrid Spain (Photo by M Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images)
Abdukodir Khusanov has won over the hearts of the Manchester City fan base and he's already breaking records at the Etihad.
His Player of the Month award was well-deserved and also a record for City's monthly accolade voted for by fans. Khusanov has held his own against Real Madrid, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Newcastle to start life in Manchester strongly, supported by what feels like the entire nation of Uzbekistan back home.
Similarly to when Riyad Mahrez was backed by thousands of Algerian supporters in public votes, Khusanov appears to have the same boost from his homeland. Even without that support, he'd have probably won the award however and he is set to play a key role in the final games of the season.
Nathan Ake has joined Manu Akanji and John Stones on the injury table to leave Ruben Dias as the only senior centre-back. Khusanov has suddenly been bumped up to number two.
And with doubts over the longer-term fitness of Stones, Akanji and Ake after their respective injuries, Khusanov could lock down a Club World Cup starting spot, too.
"Maybe for the World Cup they will be ready, or maybe the last one or two Premier League games. But when we're talking about eight, 10 weeks, it's a lot of time," Guardiola said on Friday.
"Khusanov's impact was really good from the beginning and Vitor [Reis] played really well as well against Plymouth. Now some central defenders are coming from the academy to train with us because of the absence of the three central defenders almost until the end of the season."
Guardiola has spent a season rewriting his defensive hierarchy with setback after setback. If he was literally re-writing his list of fit defenders, his office bin could look like that of a cartoon cliche of a writer stuck for ideas.
Dias and Khusanov will be the go-to centre-back pairing, one would assume, meaning Josko Gvardiol will continue at left-back. Right-back will be between Rico Lewis and Matheus Nunes without the option of support from any centre-backs.
Lewis should be ahead of midfielder Nunes, having done so well in the summer to impress and lock down his position at the start of the season. As injuries took hold and form nosedived, Lewis suffered due to a lack of rest and hasn't looked the same player for some months now.
A string of free midweeks, more straightforward fixtures and a World Cup place to win could be the making of Lewis to finish the season as he started it.
Over on the left, with Lewis needed on the right, Nico O'Reilly could be set for a more prominent role having found himself moved back from attacking midfield to defensive midfield and now full-back. Guardiola kept him in Manchester this week rather than release him for the under-19s in the UEFA Youth League, reinforcing his status as a first team option.
How Lewis, O'Reilly and Khusanov respond to their opportunities in the coming weeks will offer them first choice at a Club World Cup spot ahead of their injured colleagues returning.
Guardiola's centre-back rankings can be rewritten, starting at Nottingham Forest this weekend.