Tottenham will look to make a move for a Premier League player they've held a long-standing interest in this summer.
With the return of European football a strong possibility for the 2024/25 season, Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou is keen to add some quality to his squad ahead of the new campaign.
Injuries have often left Spurs struggling for players this season even without continental commitments, and the Australian is wary of similar circumstances happening again. Therefore, he wants a proven Premier League star to join him at the club.
According to Football.London, Tottenham could look to sign Bournemouth centre-back Illia Zabarnyi in the summer transfer window, having been interested in the Ukrainian for nearly two years now.
Ukrainian outlet Zorya Londonsk claims that Tottenham had a £20m bid rejected for Zabarnyi by Dynamo Kiev in the summer of 2022, prior to his January 2023 switch to Bournemouth. The centre-back cost the Cherries £24m, and has played every single minute for Andoni Iraola's side this term in the Premier League.
As a result, Tottenham remain interested in bringing the 21-year-old to north London, having been impressed by his displays at the heart of the Bournemouth defence. With four years still remaining on his current deal, expect Spurs to have to pay in excess of £30m if they want to land Zabarnyi.
Centre-back is certainly an area Postecoglou would like to strengthen, too, having previously highlighted how the club is short in that position at the moment.
"If you’re saying 'is it an area we can strengthen?' Yes it’s an area we will probably look at," he said. "With all these things it’s about trying to strengthen the group as much as anything else. If you think about when I first arrived, we had maybe six or seven centre-backs at the club.
"So it’s not just numbers. It's more about the ability of those players to play the football we want and to fit in to what we're trying to build here. I think it is an area of the park we will look to strengthen."
Zabarnyi is valued to be worth around £25m by Transfermarkt.
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