How important is Illya Zabarnyi to Bournemouth?

 Illya Zabarnyi's career so far

Zabarnyi is a product of the Dynamo Kyiv youth sportive school from his native city Kyiv. He played for FC Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League Reserves before being promoted to the senior team in July 2019. Zabarnyi made Ukrainian Premier League debut on 11 September 2020 in a draw against Desna Chernihiv. He went on to appear 84 times for the Ukrainian outfit across his 3 year spell with the first team. On January 31st 2023 Zabarnyi signed for AFC Bournemouth in a deal worth £20m signing a 5 and half year contract. In the summer of 2024 he extended this contract for an additional 5 years until 2029. Since joining AFC Bournemouth he has gone onto make 86 appearances for the Premier League outfit and has become integral to Andoni Iraola's side.

Importance to AFC Bournemouth

Using stats from DataMB | Football Visuals and Statistics We can accurately compare data from AFC Bournemouth's three main centre backs from the 24/25 season. When looking deeper into these stats we can clearly see Zabarnyi's strengths lay in progressive passes and ball carrying with a awfully high duel % at 81% of duels won. Although comparing his stats to Dean Huijsen he is lower in the majority however for AFC Bournemouth to loose both centre backs would be detrimental to there hopes to push for back to back top 10 finishes in the Premier League. Of course AFC Bournemouth would not let him leave cheap with a reported £60m value placed on the young Ukrainian who is a fan favourite at Dean Court and viewed as a crucial to Andoni Iraola's side especially due to his ability to step up into midfield and help continue AFC Bournemouth's high pressing system providing strong cover in midfield for Tyler Adams/ Lewis Cook and Ryan Christie to trigger the press.

 How do AFC Bournemouth replace Zabarnyi

For AFC Bournemouth to replace Zabarnyi they'd need a very specific type of defender one whom could play progressive passes as well as carrying the ball into midfield but someone who can win 1 on 1 duels against strikers consistently. With the transfer window only being open a handful of days we aren't completely aware as to who AFC Bournemouth maybe interested however a named that has been touted is Bologna centre back John Lucumi. Lucumi aged 26 with a chance to be available for a rumoured fee of £25m could be a suitable replacement for AFC Bournemouth. a player whom enjoys carrying the ball into midfield and also has a huge amount of forward passes could be an ideal replacement for AFC Bournemouth. However there are falls in his game, Lucumi has a duel % of only 27.8% this is significantly weaker than Zabarnyi. And there are other weakness too such as his ariel duel % only being 5% which for a league so heavily dominated by physically imposing centre backs this could be a huge issue for AFC Bournemouth if he is not partnered with the right player.

My Conclusion

In my humble opinion for AFC Bournemouth to lose both their starting centre backs in one transfer window would be a hugely risky move to take and unless both are replaced adequately this could turn out to be cataphoric for AFC Bournemouth. As we've seen through out this blog it is clear to see Zabarnyi is key to Bournemouth's success and without him they wouldn't be the same team and could likely struggle going into next season. Of course it is early days of the transfer window and AFC Bournemouth have plenty of time to recruit and replace and things can change so fast in football, but in my opinion Bournemouth need to do all they can to hold onto Zabarnyi this summer.

+1⁄2-year contract