Manchester City now enter race for 20-year-old player strongly linked with January move to Newcastle United

Some reports would have you believe that Newcastle United pretty much have the move for Uzbek centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov pretty much sewn up.

We've lived through this before, though. How many times was Marc Guehi's move a 'done deal' throughout the summer only for him to stay at Crystal Palace?

It does seem that there's a genuine interest in the RC Lens defender as Khusanov's name has appeared almost daily along with that of Newcastle United in recent weeks.

However, as many times as Khusanov's name has popped up, so too have stories emphasising Newcastle's position in January is to focus on outgoing moves rather than incoming.

Getty Images

Manchester City are now looking at Abdukodir Khusanov

The fact that a deal for Khusanov is expected to cost Newcastle around £25 million means it's a relatively low-cost transfer in today's prices, however, there's till a huge risk involved.

He is after all, only 20 years old and while he is performing very well in Ligue 1, the Premier League is an entirely different animal. Although it has been said that scouts believe he has what it takes to adapt to the Premier League with ease.

Tottenham Hotspur have been in the race for Khusanov too, but now Manchester City have thrown their hat into the ring according to The Telegraph.

Newcastle heading for Champions League football could massively help them in the transfer window

Pep Guardiola has had a fairly unsettled back line all season, and though their form might be about to make a turn for the better, he is expected to want reinforcements in this month.

That could be bad news for Newcastle then, with Man City, even after their recent run of results, would be hard to turn down.

Newcastle do now look on course for the Champions League, however, which could be a big swing factor in the transfer window in order to help them entice players from the continent to Tyneside.