Manchester City are set for a busier-than-usual January transfer window, but face competition from Tottenham Hotspur to sign one target.
Fans can’t wait for the winter window to open after seeing Manchester City really struggle so far this season.
The club are currently on a run of just one win in nine games, but performances were poor even before this run.
Man City are missing Rodri massively, and the expectation is that a replacement will be signed next month. But City could also seek to strengthen in other areas.
We’ve seen the team concede so many goals this term, and that was led to speculation that a new defender could come in. The likes of Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake have all picked up injuries at various points as well.
City are thought to be looking at Bournemouth star Illia Zabarnyi, but they may not have it easy.
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Manchester City face Tottenham and Chelsea competition for Illia Zabarnyi
Illia Zabarnyi of Bournemouth during a training session at Vitality Stadium on October 30, 2024 in Bournemouth, England.
Photo by Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images
According to Give Me Sport, interest is really mounting in Bournemouth defender Illia Zabarnyi.
It’s stated that Tottenham Hotspur are now interested in beating City to the Cherries defender, with Bournemouth aware that the Ukraine international is hot property ahead of next month’s window.
Androni Iraola is said to be ‘desperate’ to keep Zabarnyi on the south coast, but money will talk. It’s reported he would cost north of £50 million to prise away from the Vitality Stadium.
Despite this big price tag, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has pinpointed him as an option who would fit ‘perfectly’ into his plans.
City could also face competition from Chelsea over Zabarnyi.
The Blues and Tottenham are seemingly more keen than City at this stage, with Zabarnyi one of several options on the Citizens’ radar.
Zabarnyi looks a top prospect
It’ll be interesting to see which teams actually make an approach for Zabarnyi in January, because he looks the real deal.
Bournemouth have had a great season so far and the 22-year-old has been key in helping his side steer well clear of the relegation zone. The Cherries find themselves eighth right now and are actually just three points behind City in fourth.
Most of the talk has been about the attacking players Bournemouth have, like Evanilson, Antoine Semenyo and Justin Kluivert – but Zabarnyi has been every bit as important.
Illia Zabarnyi for Bournemouth this season
Appearances – 15
Goals/assists – 0/0
Pass completion rate – 83.3%
Percentage of dribblers tackled – 70.6%
Aerial duels win rate – 62.0%
Stats via fbref
Iraola said of the star last year (via Bournemouth Echo): “I think Illia is a very, very solid centre-back. I think defensively he is very good in duels.”
“I think for someone with his strength, he is quite comfortable, even if he is far (from his goal). He can follow the forwards far, because he also has the speed.”
The £50,000-a-week man ranks ninth out of all Bournemouth players in terms of average match rating on WhoScored which is pretty respectable, so we’ll see if someone comes in for him in January.
Given his asking price, teams could be put off. But he might be worth looking at for City next summer given the injury problems of Ake and Stones in particular.