Tottenham still has it all ahead of them to do in this summer’s transfer market, where TheBoyHotspur understands they are preparing an offer that could exceed €70 million in respect of Bournemouth’s talented defender Illya Zabarnyi.
There are two obvious complications here. One, is that Spurs see the Ukrainian centre-back as the ideal candidate to replace Cristian Romero should he depart. So, Romero would need to be sold, and from recent reports, it became clear that Atlético Madrid may adore Cuti, but they have yet to place a bid.
The second issue is that the 22-year-old continues to attract strong interest from Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG have made several offers in the region of €60 million, all of which have been rejected by Bournemouth. The Premier League side does not wish to sell and maintains a valuation of around €70 million.
TheBoyHotspur understands Tottenham are a club willing to meet the full asking price for Zabarnyi, however, the player remains focused on PSG and is not actively engaging in talks with other clubs.
Newcastle United are also supposedly in the mix, seeking a solid defensive partner for Sven Botman ahead of their Champions League campaign. Chelsea have added Zabarnyi to their long-term centre-back shortlist, and Liverpool are reportedly considering him as a possible replacement for Ibrahima Konaté, though no concrete steps have been taken.
While Zabarnyi’s transfer request is under internal review at Bournemouth, the PSG camp is confident that the deal can be completed during the summer.
Perhaps the threat of Cuti making a move has rattled Daniel Levy sufficiently to think outside his usual economic box.
I take the view that this is precisely the class of footballer Spurs ought to be buying, but at 22 years of age, that, from a financial point of view, Zabarnyi will have maxed out his value. It seems ambitious to the point of ridiculous to imagine that Tottenham would drop that class of cash.