Liverpool have been offered the chance to reunite Illia Zabarnyi with Andoni Iraola at Anfield, according to a report, as the Spaniard’s previous comments on the Paris Saint-Germain defender come to light.
Ibrahima Konate is leaving Liverpool this summer after the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), failed to convince the France international defender to sign a new contract with the Reds.
Konate has a deal in place with Real Madrid and will move to Estadio Bernabeu as a free agent after the presidential elections.
Liverpool are on the hunt for a new defender to replace Konate, with Borussia Dortmund and Germany international centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck linked with a move to Anfield this summer.
It has now emerged that Illia Zabarnyi has been offered to Liverpool, with the former Bournemouth defender reportedly not happy at Paris Saint-Germain.
Zabarnyi worked with incoming Liverpool manager Iraola at Bournemouth and moved to PSG in the summer of 2025 for a transfer fee of £57million.
The 23-year-old Ukraine international made 26 starts in Ligue 1 and two starts in the Champions League for Luis Enrique’s side this season.
In his very first season at PSG, Zabarnyi won Ligue 1, the Champions League and Trophee des Champions, but the Ukraine international is ‘less than fully satisfied with his situation in the French capital’, according to Daveockop.
The Liverpool-centric news outlet has claimed that PSG are ‘open to selling’ the defender if they can recoup the £57m fee they paid for him last summer.
The report has claimed that ‘Liverpool have been offered the chance to explore a deal’ for the former Bournemouth star.
The report further stated: ‘It could turn out to be an intriguing proposal for the Reds.
‘Talks are at an exploratory stage right now.
‘The club has simply been presented with the option, and it is understood that initial dialogue has taken place.’
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What Andoni Iraola and Illia Zabarnyi have said about each other
While this claim about Liverpool and Zabarnyi has not been backed by a second source, one can understand the links.
Iraola worked with Zabarnyi at Bournemouth and rates the Ukrainian centre-back highly.
The Spaniard said about the defender in February 2025: “Zaba for me is even easier to explain, I think.
“I’m not sure if we decided to change him one minute in the time I’ve been here.
“So that basically says everything about the confidence we have in him and how reliable and how robust also he is and he’s the kind of player that is very easy to coach.
“For a coach, he pays attention, he comes every day to train with a great attitude and I am enjoying also his development because now when I arrived he was a great player but quite shy.
“He didn’t talk a lot and now you see him managing everything from behind, shouting to the ones in front asking for the others and this is a show of how he’s developing and he’s becoming a more important player even for us.
“I love him personally and as a player.”
Zabarnyi has also previously hailed Iraola.
The defender said about the former Bournemouth manager in December 2024: “Honestly, for me it’s very important for me to understand a head coach because I’m the guy who just listens and does what is asked and I need to.
“With Andoni, I just feel confident because he explains very well what he wants and every time I just I try to listen and do what he says, because I know it helps me, it helps the team.
“It’s going to be work and these are very important things with head coaches and players.”
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