Tottenham Hotspur have competition for a summer transfer target
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Thomas Frank was appointed as Tottenham Hotspur’s successor to Ange Postecoglou last month and the Dane had his work cut out when he arrived in North London.
Spurs were riding the high of Europa League glory but bigger issues around the squad and its confidence lay beneath the surface. Frank was chosen as the right man to rectify this, having been known for his great man-management skills during his time at Brentford.
The playing squad also needed major surgery and that is what Frank has aimed to do. The club has so far brought in five permanent signings for a combined cost of £122million, with Mohammed Kudus the marquee purchase in a £55m move from London rivals West Ham United for nearly half the total summer spend.
The Ghana international may yet be eclipsed, though, with two £60m targets linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A significant obstacle has reportedly arisen for one of the deals in question.
PSG set to submit improved offer for Illia Zabarnyi
It was reported on Monday that Tottenham are interested in Bournemouth centre-back Illia Zabarnyi, who shone at the back for the Cherries last season and may be available for transfer this summer at a hefty price tag of around £60m.
European champions PSG have been touted as the favourites to sign the Ukraine international throughout the summer window so far, but questions over the move arose due to a gap in valuation. Fresh reports by Fabrizio Romano on X state that the Parisians are ready to come back with an improved offer for the 22-year-old, which may put a dent in Spurs’ hopes of landing the defender as a possible replacement for Cristian Romero.
Romano continues that “no active talks” are going on with Tottenham, which backs up previous speculation that Zabarnyi only wants PSG and will only actively engage in discussions with the French champions while a move is still on the table. The transfer guru states that a “verbal agreement” between Zabarnyi and PSG was reached in June.
Zabarnyi is a ‘reliable’ player with a ‘great attitude’ - Iraola
Regardless of whether Zabarnyi ends up in the capital of France, of England or somewhere else entirely this summer, it is without doubt that any potential suitors will be getting a defender with the capabilities of going right to the top.
Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola said of Zabarnyi last season: “Zaba for me is easy to explain, I think. I'm not sure if we decided to change him one minute in the time I've been here. So that basically says everything about the confidence we have in him and how reliable and how robust also he is and he's the kind of player that is very easy to coach.
“For a coach, he pays attention, he comes every day to train with a great attitude and I am enjoying also his development because now when I arrived he was a great player but quite shy. He didn't talk a lot and now you see him managing everything from behind, shouting to the ones in front asking for the others and this is a show of how he's developing and he's becoming a more important player even for us. I love him personally and as a player.”