Dynamo Kyiv president Igor Surkis has denied reports that Tottenham Hotspur made an offer for defender Illya Zabarnyi late in the transfer window.
Reports over the summer indicated that Spurs were expected to be in the market for a central defender to replace Japhet Tanganga, with the 23-year-old backed to leave the North London club (Evening Standard).
Zabarnyi was one of the options rumoured to be on Tottenham’s radar, with Alasdair Gold stating on his YouTube channel about a month ago that Antonio Conte’s men like the Ukrainian international and that a late move could not be ruled out.
In the end, Tanganga remained put at the club and the Lilywhites thus chose not to add to their backline towards the end of the transfer window.
However, in the final days of the window, Ukrainian publication Football24 claimed that Spurs had launched a £25m offer for Zabarnyi, which was rejected by Dynamo Kyiv, who were said to be holding out for a bigger fee.
Surkis has now insisted that no formal offer was made by Tottenham for the 19-year-old.
When asked about the rumoured bid, he told TaToTake on Telegram: “There was no offer. Maybe some clubs targeted him. Mandates were given to the agents, but nothing (official) reached Dynamo.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Tottenham’s issues with the homegrown rule might have played a part in the club deciding to hold on to Tanganga. As things stand, we are at the limit of non-homegrown players allowed for the Champions League, given that Pape Matar Sarr and Bryan Gil have not been loaned out.
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