Chelsea were handed a major blow at the start of the summer as their long-time target, Dean Huijsen, decided to join Real Madrid at the last minute, turning down the Blues. Enzo Maresca's side have since moved on to target other players as potential reinforcements to the squad, with another Bournemouth ace seemingly on their radar.
Huijsen’s Bournemouth teammate Illia Zabarnyi has emerged as a viable option for the Blues in their pursuit of a signing a reliable centre-back ahead of next season. However, it looks like they might miss out on him as well.
Chelsea lost out to Real Madrid in the race for Huijsen. Now, it looks like they are likely to lose out to the European champions in the chase to sign Zabarnyi.
According to TBR Football, Bournemouth’s Illia Zabarnyi, who is on Chelsea’s radar, will likely join Paris Saint-Germain. Their football correspondent, Graeme Bailey, said:
"That’s because of PSG’s interest in Zabarnyi and there is also interest elsewhere in the Premier League – all the top six clubs like him, they all admire him as a player.
“Bournemouth’s asking price is surprising, it’s around £60m they’ll get, so it does look like he’s going to, and PSG are most likely.
“We previously shared that Chelsea and Liverpool both like Zabarnyi – but would Liverpool take two Bournemouth defenders in the same window? Well they wanted Huijsen alongside Kerkez, so why not.
“But as it stands, Bournemouth realise that Zabarnyi wants to go and a third member of their back four is looking set to leave."
Chelsea look set to lose Zabarnyi race as PSG emerge as likely destination
This marks the second such incident in recent times when the Blues might fail to secure a player despite keeping tabs on them for a long time. It will surely come as a disappointment if true.
But Chelsea fans need not worry too much, as the club have already shortlisted several other options for the centre-back position. In fact, Marc Guehi seems to be emerging as the favourite to join the Blues.
Although Zabarnyi might have cost the Blues a lower transfer fee, Guehi who is valued at £70 million has established himself not only as one of the best defenders in the Premier League but also a regular in the England team. So, he'd probably be the safer signing.
Of course, other clubs are interested in Guehi as well. So, signing him is not going to be an easy task either.