{"id":278484,"date":"2025-07-20T22:59:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T22:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/278484\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T22:59:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T22:59:13","slug":"liverpool-eyeing-move-for-unbelievable-60m-pl-star-after-ekitike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/278484\/","title":{"rendered":"Liverpool &#8216;Eyeing Move&#8217; for &#8216;Unbelievable&#8217; \u00a360m PL Star After Ekitike"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Illia Zabarnyi is reportedly at the top of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.givemesport.com\/db\/sports-team\/liverpool\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Liverpool<\/a>&#8216;s shortlist of Ibrahima Konate replacements.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.caughtoffside.com\/2025\/07\/20\/tottenham-willing-pay-asking-price-illya-zabarnyi\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">CaughtOffside <\/a>reports that Zabarnyi is under consideration if the Reds need to sign a new centre-back this summer. Konate&#8217;s future is up in the air amid interest from Real Madrid, and the club doesn&#8217;t want to lose the Frenchman for free.<\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old&#8217;s contract expires next summer, and while he&#8217;s in talks with the Merseysiders, he&#8217;s turned down their latest renewal offer. Madrid are using this to their advantage and have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.givemesport.com\/liverpool-asking-price-for-simply-sensational-star-emerges-talks-ongoing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reportedly <\/a>been told it will take \u00a343m to sign him this summer.<\/p>\n<p>                        <strong>Liverpool Could Replace Konate With Zabarnyi <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>            <strong>The Bournemouth centre-back has plenty of options<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>                    <img width=\"3000\" height=\"1500\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"White Black Modern Photo Collage Before After Youtube Thumbnail - 2025-07-20T161103.076\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-black-modern-photo-collage-before-after-youtube-thumbnail-2025-07-20t161103-076.png\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-black-modern-photo-collage-before-after-youtube-thumbnail-2025-07-20t161103-076.png\" style=\"display:block;height:auto;max-width:100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Liverpool continues to make major moves in this transfer window, and the latest has seen Eintracht Frankfurt&#8217;s Hugo Ekitike close in on becoming their new number nine. The Frenchman is a medical away from completing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.givemesport.com\/here-we-go-fabrizio-romano-liverpool-agree-82m-deal-for-hugo-ekitike\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a \u00a382m switch<\/a> to Anfield.<\/p>\n<p>The Reds may then turn their focus to defence and they are one of several clubs eyeing Zabarnyi amid a stellar past season with Bournemouth. He shined alongside Madrid new-boy Dean Huijsen in Andoni Iraola&#8217;s defence. The Ukrainian is also on Tottenham Hotspur&#8217;s radar, while Paris Saint-Germain have had offers of up to \u20ac60m (\u00a352m) rejected by the Cherries.<\/p>\n<p>The 22-year-old is also on Newcastle United and Chelsea&#8217;s wishlists, but Arne Slot appears to be a fan amid growing uncertainty over Konate&#8217;s future. It could take a fee of around \u20ac70m (\u00a360m) to convince the South Coast outfit to sell the centre-back who has four years on his current deal.<\/p>\n<tr>\n<p>Illia Zabarnyi (Premier League 2024-25)<\/p>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Appearances:<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>36<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Interceptions:<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>1.1<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Tackles per game:<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>1.4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Balls recovered per game:<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>4.4<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Clearances:<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>5.0<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Total duels won:<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p>3.9 (63%)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p>Zabarnyi joined Bournemouth from Dynamo Kyiv in the summer of 2023 for a fee in the region of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/football\/64464428\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a324m<\/a>. He&#8217;s proven to be a hit at the Vitality, being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bournemouthecho.co.uk\/sport\/23989720.philip-billing-heaps-praise-afc-bournemouth-teammate-illia-zabarnyi\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">hailed <\/a>as &#8220;unbelievable&#8221; by teammate Philip Billing. He helped Iraola&#8217;s side to a best-ever ninth-placed finish and the sixth-best defensive record in the league, conceding just 46 goals.<\/p>\n<p>Liverpool haven&#8217;t taken concrete steps to sign the 49-cap Ukraine international, as they are likely waiting to see what unfolds regarding Konate&#8217;s situation. They are in the mix and have already done business with the Cherries by spending <a href=\"https:\/\/www.skysports.com\/football\/news\/11669\/13386383\/milos-kerkez-transfer-liverpool-complete-40m-deal-for-bournemouth-left-back-with-summer-spending-to-pass-200m\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a340m<\/a> on left-back Milos Kerkez earlier this summer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>All statistics courtesy of <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sofascore.com\/football\/player\/illia-zabarnyi\/1023567\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">SofaScore <\/a><strong>&#8211; correct as of 20.07.2025<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sign up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.givemesport.com\/page\/newsletter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The GIVEMESPORT Report<\/a> to get exclusive daily updates from Fabrizio Romano, Ben Jacobs, Dean Jones and Tom Bogert sent straight to your inbox<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a class=\"dc-img-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.givemesport.com\/liverpool-asking-price-for-simply-sensational-star-emerges-talks-ongoing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<p>                    <img width=\"3000\" height=\"1500\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"White Black Modern Photo Collage Before After Youtube Thumbnail - 2025-07-20T143834.319\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-black-modern-photo-collage-before-after-youtube-thumbnail-2025-07-20t143834-319.png\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-black-modern-photo-collage-before-after-youtube-thumbnail-2025-07-20t143834-319.png\" style=\"display:block;height:auto;max-width:100%;\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    Related<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.givemesport.com\/liverpool-asking-price-for-simply-sensational-star-emerges-talks-ongoing\/\" title=\" Liverpool Asking Price for &#039;Simply Sensational&#039; Star Emerges, Talks Ongoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t Liverpool Asking Price for &#8216;Simply Sensational&#8217; Star Emerges, Talks Ongoing<br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">The Reds&#8217; demands have been revealed amid contract issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Illia Zabarnyi is reportedly at the top of Liverpool&#8216;s shortlist of Ibrahima Konate replacements. CaughtOffside reports that Zabarnyi&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-278484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114888046583590245","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}