Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United are in the picture to sign AFC Bournemouth’s Illia Zabarnyi.
That’s according to L’Equipe, and they discuss Tottenham and Newcastle when covering the latest on Paris Saint-Germain’s pursuit of the defender.
The treble winners agreed a five-year contract with Zabarnyi in May and were expecting to quickly reach an agreement with Bournemouth. That hasn’t happened so far, despite PSG’s latest attempt.
Bournemouth and Luis Enrique’s side are standing firm with their stance and the centre-back’s transfer has stalled over bonuses.
Last week, PSG were said to have sent their first written offer to the Cherries. That included €60m in fixed fee plus agreeing to cover the FIFA solidarity payment.
Bournemouth initially requested €70m and are now willing to lower their demands. They are open to accepting PSG’s offer if they were to include €3m bonuses, which PSG have refused so far.
L’Equipe state: ‘For several days now, everyone involved in the project has been experiencing an emotional roller coaster, thinking that everything would be resolved in a few hours, before becoming pessimistic.’
The Paris club are still expecting to acquire the Ukraine international’s signature in this window.
Zabarnyi, for his part, seems puzzled as how the operation can be dragged for so long. He continues to maintain his desire of joining PSG, while being aware that Tottenham and Newcastle are ‘pushing’ to sign him.
According to L’Equipe, both Tottenham and Newcastle are ‘ready to immediately meet’ Bournemouth’s demand if the 22-year-old is open to joining them.
The Premier League duo remain in the mix, but PSG are still ahead of them in the transfer race.