Manchester City on Monday confirmed the signing of central defender Abdukodir Khusanov from French side Lens, making him the first player from Uzbekistan to ever play in the Premier League.

The 20-year-old has agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract until June 2029, and has cost the English club 33.6 million pounds (41.3 million U.S. dollars) as they look to rejuvenate their first team squad.

The sale represents a huge profit for Lens, who signed the Uzbekistan international from Belarusian club Energetik-BGU 18 months ago for around 90,000 euros (94,000 U.S. dollars).

Khusanov expressed his satisfaction at signing for the club coached by Pep Guardiola, saying on the club website that the Manchester City squad was "full of the best players in the world, and I can't wait to meet them and play alongside them."

"And of course Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest coaches ever and I am so excited to learn from him and improve my game even more," he added.

Manchester City's director of football Txiki Begiristain explained that Khusanov, who has played 18 times for his country, was "very intelligent, as well as being strong, aggressive and extremely quick."