Bournemouth Defender Zabarnyi Nears £57m PSG Transfer Amid Multiple Defender Sales

Bournemouth defender Illia Zabarnyi is close to completing a £57.1 million move to Paris Saint-Germain, having agreed personal terms on a five-year contract and arrived in Paris for a medical. The transfer fee is expected to be around £54.5 million plus £2.6 million in add-ons, marking the third major defender departure from Bournemouth this summer following Dean Huijsen's £50 million move to Real Madrid and Milos Kerkez's £40 million transfer to Liverpool. Bournemouth has quickly moved to replace Zabarnyi by agreeing a deal for Lille centre-back Bafode Diakite, with an initial fee of £30 million rising to £34 million with add-ons. Manager Andoni Iraola acknowledged the difficulty of losing three key defenders but emphasized the club's efforts to sign new centre-backs and rebuild the squad despite the challenges. Zabarnyi, who joined Bournemouth in 2023 from Dynamo Kyiv for about £24 million, was a long-term target for PSG, who had pursued him since the January transfer window. These high-profile sales have generated significant profit for Bournemouth but also require strategic rebuilding of the defense moving forward.