Although there has yet to be a fee agreed between the clubs, Illia Zabarnyi to PSG feels like a move that will happen sooner rather than later.

The rumour has continued all summer, with PSG having multiple bids rejected for the Ukranian centre-back.

Reports have differed on the exact fee that the Cherries are holding out for, but it seems to be that any agreed package will be totalling roughly €70m.

The impending move has been met with a sense of doom and gloom amongst AFCB fans, given almost all of last season’s strong backline will have left and having just 2 weeks until the new Premier League season starts, so here are the positives and negatives to weigh up when discussing Zabarnyi’s likely departure.

NEGATIVES

Let’s start with the obvious negative – Illia Zabarnyi is an outstanding centre back, and finding someone (affordable) of his quality to replace him will be a very, very difficult task for Tiago Pinto and co.

Zabarnyi perhaps went under the radar from many outside the club last season, with a lot of the spotlight going to his partner at the back, Dean Huijsen, who completed a £50M move to Real Madrid this summer.

But ask many Bournemouth fans, and they will likely tell you that Zabarnyi was the better player last season than Huijsen. Zabarnyi completed more blocks, tackles and interceptions than his counterpart last season, although he did play more games.

One of Zabarnyi’s best qualities was his availability – he missed only one game in the 2023/24 Premier League season, and just two games last season, which were due to suspension. Given Bournemouth’s injury problems last season, it was a major positive to have him fully fit throughout the campaign.

Zabarnyi had been at the club ever since Andoni Iraola was brought in as manager, and was a huge cog in the chaotic football machine under the Spaniard – players of his composure, strength and know-how don’t just grow on trees.

And that ties into another major issue – it’s almost a whole backline that needs to gel.

Huijsen to Real Madrid, Kepa returning to Chelsea and subsequently joining Arsenal and Milos Kerkez to Liverpool for £40M have seen a backline that was so solid and dependable last season almost fully torn to shreds – stalwart Adam Smith the last regular start standing.

Adrien Truffert (and Julio Soler in Winter) has replaced Kerkez for a much cheaper fee than they received from Liverpool, and £25M was spent to take Djordje Petrovic from Chelsea as the club’s new number one.

But with two weeks until the campaign begins against Liverpool, no centre backs have been brought in. Chris Mepham has returned from a successful loan at Sunderland, but as it stands, is fourth choice in the pecking order. Ahead of him are James Hill, who has very little Premier League experience at centre-back, Marcos Senesi, who has just one year left and after injury did not have his best season last term, and of course, Zabarnyi.

It’s important to note that Dynamo Kyiv are reportedly entitled to 20% of any fee that AFCB receive for Zabarnyi, as part of the £24M move to bring him to the club. Assuming the Cherries pocket around £60M for him, that means Dynamo will receive around £12M, which is a big loss of revenue for AFCB.

With the clear plan (with the examples of Evanilson and Truffert) being to bring in replacements for cheaper than they have sold on players, how do Tiago Pinto and Simon Francis go about replacing Huijsen and Zabarnyi, with selling clubs knowing they are desperate for reinforcements? An unenviable task.

Do they look to bring in players quickly before that Liverpool game and give as much time to gel as possible, or bide their time as much as possible and find the deal that works best for them?

POSITIVES

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Although it could rightly be argued that they are worth much more, (hypothetically) receiving over £100M for Huijsen and Zabarnyi is a LOT of money, and yet another success story for the recruitment team, having spent just over £35M combined to bring them in.

And although it is not always ideal for the club to potentially just be seen as a stepping stone by any new incomers, it goes to show that signing for AFC Bournemouth can be a fantastic step for a player’s career, and can lead to joining the biggest clubs in the world. That should lead to no problems in terms of pulling power – no less the chance to play under one of the best young managers in the world, for a club that is only on the up.

And the major positive is that, so far, Tiago Pinto has done a brilliant job as President of Football Operations, aided by Technical Director Simon Francis. Evanilson was a brilliant replacement for Dom Solanke, a role that, similar to Zabarnyi, came with huge shoes to fill, but the Brazilian did so with great aplomb. Personally, I have great trust in Pinto and co. to sound out the correct replacements for a sensible amount of money, and it will be genuinely exciting to see who they are able to bring in. Brighton are a fantastic example to follow, having lost so many top players for large fees, but constantly unearthing gems for cheaper, selling them again, continuing the cycle, all whilst competing in/fighting for Europe.

Whilst Zabarnyi is certainly good enough on the ball, Senesi and Huijsen both definitely outshone him in that regard, and it could be possible that a replacement for him brings more quality on the ball, which is very important given Iraola’s style. His centre backs need to have the ability to hit regular switches, direct balls forward to break the lines, and the ability to carry the ball out of defence. There is no doubt Zabarnyi has been more than capable in this regard, but it is not his strongest attribute.

A departure could also mean more minutes at centre back for James Hill, who impressed there in the recent friendly over Everton. I am not saying for one second that I expect Hill to be Zabarnyi’s replacement; Hill came in to the club as a centre back, but has found most of his minutes at right back. Perhaps Hill will have more opportunities to fulfil his potential by getting more minutes in his favoured position, and if he does well that would be a major positive, having cost just £1M from Fleetwood in January 2022.

As harsh as it sounds, it will be positive to see the end of this saga, which, like others this summer, have rumbled on for a long time. Whilst Zabarnyi has gone about things in a very professional way, there is no doubt that lessons have been learnt from the past in terms of no longer keeping players who don’t want to be here, and although the club won’t want to be pushovers, I would suggest this is the correct way to run the club. Many have argued that Zabarnyi’s head was not in it in the most recent friendly against Manchester United, and that it was perhaps his worst performance for the club.

Nothing is set in stone at the time of publishing, so, technically, Zabarnyi could remain an AFC Bournemouth player this season and no one would be unhappy with that.

In the same regard, no one can blame Zabarnyi for wanting to join one of the most feared teams in the world, the chance to win many trophies, and undoubtedly greatly increase his wage packet, would likely be snapped at by anyone. He has never let the club down, and it has been an honour to watch him grow week in week out, moulding into one of the world’s best young centre-backs.

That said, it simply has to be next man up, and it is exciting to see who the next Illia Zabarnyi could be for AFC Bournemouth.