Tottenham are attempting to hijack PSG’s move for Bournemouth defender Illia Zabarnyi but the player prefers a move to France.
That is the theory of Sky Sports Italy journalist Gianluca Di Marzio who is reporting that the North London club have entered the race for the defender.
According to Di Marzio, Spurs would be willing to pay the €70 million requested by Bournemouth who also now look set to lose Bryan Mbeumo.
But Zabarnyi has long been on the radar of PSG who previously had offers of €60 million rejected.
The Ukrainian moved to the Cherries in January 2023, joining from Dynamo Kyiv for a fee of €23 million. He featured in all but two of Bournemouth’s Premier League games last season.
Spurs have already made five permanent signings this summer with Kota Takai, Luka Vuskovic, Kevin Danso and Mohammed Kudus all arriving. Meanwhile, Mathys Tel’s loan from Bayern Munich was made into a permanent deal.
If a deal for Zabarnyi does come off for Spurs, it will have been conducted much easier than their pursuit of Morgan Gibbs-White.
Spurs submitted a bid of £60m to match the English midfielder’s release clause only for his current club Nottingham Forest to threaten legal action, claiming Tottenham discovered the supposedly confidential clause through tapping up.
That threat has put the deal on the back burner but a report from Football Insider suggested it was still likely to go ahead.
‘The deal was dramatically halted when Forest reported Tottenham to the Premier League for allegedly ‘tapping up’ their player. Despite the controversy, sources say that the move will be finalised by the end of the transfer window.
‘The Nottingham-based side’s complaints about the way Spurs have approached their midfielder are expected to hold up the deal. As the release clause has been triggered though, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have very little legal standing to prevent the deal going through.”
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According to the Daily Mail, there have been “showdown” talks between Gibbs-White and Forest with the player keen to push the move through.
They also report that Forest sent an “explosive” letter to both Tottenham and the Premier League, with a potential investigation still on the table.
If Forest fail to keep Gibbs-White they may look to Villa Park for their replacement with Jacob Ramsey a long-term target for the club.
A new report from the Telegraph said Forest have renewed their interest in the player whose contract expires in 2027.