Manchester City's Erling Haaland in action with AFC Bournemouth's Illia Zabarnyi. (REUTERS)/Andrew Couldridge)
After a solid season that saw them finish ninth in the Premier League — narrowly missing out on European qualification — Bournemouth have, perhaps unsurprisingly, seen their top talent targeted this summer.
The Cherries have already lost star centre-back Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid in a £50 million deal, while standout left-back Milos Kerkez is set to join Liverpool as a long-term successor to the aging Andrew Robertson.
Winger Antoine Semenyo, who scored 13 goals across all competitions, is also on the radar of Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur. If either club comes calling with a big-money offer, it could be too tempting for both Semenyo and manager Andoni Iraola to turn down.
Now, another major exit looms — and it could be the most damaging yet.
PSG Agree Personal Terms with Zabarnyi
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Illia Zabarnyi has agreed personal terms with Paris Saint-Germain ahead of a potential blockbuster move to the Parc des Princes.
“Paris Saint-Germain and Ilya Zabarny have agreed personal terms on [a] five-year contract,” Romano wrote on X. “Discussions continue with Bournemouth on transfer fee as talks are underway, but no agreement sealed yet.”
The 21-year-old Ukraine international, who starred alongside Huijsen at the heart of Bournemouth’s defence, was widely praised for his composure and maturity.
Former Cherries defender Joe Partington even hailed the pair as the best the club has seen — better than the previous partnership of Steve Cook and Nathan Aké.
“The two lads at the moment have taken Bournemouth to a completely different level. In terms of ability, they are the best two — by quite some distance,” Partington said. “They look really strong, really connected, on the same page. It is everything you would want from a defensive centre-back pairing.”
According to L’Équipe, Bournemouth will demand as much as £59 million for Zabarnyi — a figure meant to deter interest. But with PSG’s financial firepower and the player clearly keen, the deal feels inevitable.
The silver lining for Bournemouth fans is that reinforcements have already started arriving. The club completed the £14.4 million signing of Rennes left-back Adrien Truffert, who has penned a five-year deal and is expected to replace Kerkez.
Still, with Zabarnyi likely to join Huijsen through the exit door — this is shaping up to be Bournemouth’s most difficult summer window in recent memory.
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