Daniel Levy has pulled off another surprise for Tottenham as he looks to back Thomas Frank.
Levy made promises to support his new manager and made a couple of direct moves for high-profile attacking players in Mohammed Kudus and Morgan Gibbs-White.
However, ever since Nottingham Forest stepped in to delay the approach for the latter over two weeks ago, the Lilywhites have worryingly reverted to being dormant in the transfer market.
Levy will be aware that there is still work to be done on the squad, and looks set to break the club’s record transfer spent on signing Dominic Solanke last summer.
Spurs bid over £60million for Illia Zabarnyi
Tottenham have been linked with Illia Zabarnyi this summer as they are cautiously preparing for life without Cristian Romero, whose future at Spurs is far from assured.
MORE SPURS STORIES
The 22-year-old signed for Bournemouth from Dynamo Kyiv in January 2023 for around £20million, and has gone on to become a hugely important player for the Cherries.
The Ukraine international has been linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain this summer, but the seaside club are reluctant to let him leave after already losing Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid and Milos Kerkez to Liverpool.
Nevertheless, it was revealed by Duncan Castles on the Transfers Podcast (22 July) that Tottenham have made a bid worth over £60million for Zabarnyi, which would break Spurs’ club transfer record.
Castles said, “Guidance from Bournemouth is that Tottenham have offered £61million for the player, which is owner Bill Foley’s asking price, and which would represent a new club record transfer fee for Tottenham, exceeding the initial £55m with £10m of variables that they paid Bournemouth for (Dominic) Solanke last summer.”
The player is thought to want to join PSG, and Bournemouth and Tottenham may have to work together to convince the centre-back to accept a move to North London instead.
His signing would be a coup for both Frank and Levy, and shows that the latter has seen some sense and identified the importance of adequately replacing vice-captain Romero.
Zabarnyi is very close to a perfect replacement for Romero
Romero’s qualities, including his ability to break lines with his passing and aggression in defending, are unrivalled. The World Cup winner’s leadership is also a huge asset to Spurs and would be difficult to replace.
However, Zabarnyi is five years younger than the Argentinian and has shown almost equally impressive composure on the ball, which was a key feature in Bournemouth’s success under Iraola.
He is also one of the quickest and most athletic central defenders in the Premier League, while his injury record since joining the Cherries has been virtually impeccable.
Defensively, the youngster still has some room to improve, but he has already got two years of top-flight experience in England under his belt.
Zabarnyi is clearly not yet on Romero’s level, but he possesses all the attributes to become an elite centre-back, and is as close to a perfect replacement as Spurs could hope to find.