Bournemouth star Ilya Zabarnyi has emerged as a defensive target for Tottenham
It has been far from an ideal start to the 2024/25 Premier League season for Tottenham Hotspur, who lie 10th in the table after 11 games.
A chronic lack of consistency have been one of the major factors to hamper the Lilywhites in Ange Postecoglou’s second season in North London. They have had their fair share of injury problems too, with first-choice centre-back pairing Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven currently recovering from their issues.
Tottenham are not blessed with options as far as the centre-back unit is concerned. Beyond Romero and Van de Ven, they only have Radu Dragusin as the only senior centre-back option. As a result, the chiefs at the Hotspur Way are planning to bring in a new central defender in the upcoming winter transfer window.
Bournemouth’s highly-rated defender Ilya Zabarnyi has emerged as a target for Tottenham. The Ukraine international has been a revelation since joining Bournemouth in 2023, displaying aerial dominance, physicality, reading of the game and composure on the ball. He has made 11 Premier League appearances this season, playing a key role at the back in the Cherries’ strong start to the season.
Despite recently signing a new five-year contract at the Vitality Stadium until 2029 (Transfermarkt), interest in Ilya Zabarnyi continues to grow. Due to the length of his contract, Bournemouth are in a good position to demand a sizeable fee for their defensive star. Currently, they are willing to listen to offers in the region of £50m.
However, John Wenham—the owner of the Spurs podcast Lilywhite Rose—believes Zabarnyi is not worth £50million. He feels the centre-back hasn’t done enough yet in the Premier League to warrant such a hefty fee.
“Zabarnyi was originally linked with Spurs a while back,” John Wenham exclusively told Tottenham News.
“He was seen as a real option for the left-sided centre-back role. Bournemouth then went and signed him for £18million. However, I don’t think he has since done enough to justify being worth double that fee and then some.
“Spurs already have several centre-backs, including some promising young ones. Therefore, I don’t see the club signing another player in that position. Especially not in January, unless either Cristian Romero or Micky van de Ven were to pick up a very long-term injury.”
Spurs are clearly lacking depth in the centre-back department and, with Van de Ven having twice been injured and Romero heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid, it is imperative for Daniel Levy to sign a player in that position.
Zabarnyi is a player whose trajectory is clearly on the up, as evidenced by his development under Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth. He has remained on Tottenham’s radar since their earlier attempts to secure a deal with Dynamo Kyiv in 2022. It is obvious that the Ukrainian is admired by the chiefs at the Hotspur Way, although whether they’d be ready to splash £50million for his signature in January is difficult to answer at the moment.
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While Spurs have historically avoided splashing premium on players, the past summer transfer window was a tad different with Dominic Solanke becoming the club’s new record signing at £65m. Daniel Levy has shown he is ready to loosen his purse strings if there is a requirement, and he could do something similar in Zabarnyi’s case to address Tottenham’s defensive frailties.
