Tottenham want ‘very solid’ £24m Premier League defender, Paratici missed out

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Tottenham Hotspur are showing an interest in signing Bournemouth defender Illya Zabarnyi having previously wanted him from Dynamo Kiev.

Tottenham will surely sign at least one new centre back during the January transfer window.

Micky van de Ven won’t be back for a while and Cristian Romero‘s recent suspension highlighted Tottenham’s lack of depth.

A host of names are being linked but Tottenham could look towards a Premier League defender who beat Manchester United on Saturday…

Tottenham Hotspur interested in signing Illya Zabarnyi

The Mirror now report that Tottenham are interested in snapping up Bournemouth defender Illya Zabarnyi.

Zabarnyi is thought to be prominent in Tottenham’s thoughts as they focus on a data-driven recruitment approach under new technical director Johan Lange.

The report highlights that Bournemouth have no intention of letting Zabarnyi go having only brought him in from Dynamo Kiev earlier this year.

Zabarnyi has started all 16 of Bournemouth’s Premier League games this season and hasn’t missed a single minute.

The 21-year-old is impressing for Bournemouth and Tottenham are now back in the hunt having been very interested in him just about 18 months ago.

The Mirror’s report highlights that Fabio Paratici is a big fan of Zabarnyi but Tottenham’s interest hasn’t gone away.

Spurs have liked Zabarnyi for a while

Reports in Ukraine back in August 2022 suggested that a London-based club had made an offer to sign Zabarnyi.

Football London’s Alasdair Gold had reported earlier in the window that Tottenham had been showing a real interest in the defender.

Bournemouth ended up winning Zabarnyi’s signature in January 2023, paying £24million to bring him to the South Coast.

Football London added that Spurs ‘really liked’ Zabarnyi before he joined Bournemouth, so that interest appears to have remained.

Praised as ‘very, very solid’ and hailed for his pace to recover defensively by Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, Zabarnyi is on Tottenham’s wish list but a January deal sounds tricky.