---
title: "Liverpool transfer news as initial talks held with £57m defender’s agents"
canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/news/liverpool-transfer-news-illia-zabarnyi-psg/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Vishal Subramanian"
section: "Liverpool News"
published: "2026-08-03T19:40:05Z"
modified: "2026-09-22T13:54:44Z"
---

# Liverpool transfer news as initial talks held with £57m defender’s agents

**Liverpool’s backline currently has more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese due to injuries.**

Virgil van Dijk and Jeremy Jacquet are yet to feature in pre-season, while the likes of Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez and Giovanni Leoni are all out injured.

Andoni Iraola has a massive problem in terms of his rearguard and could look to reinforce his options in the coming days.

Yesterday, [Sky Sports reported that Liverpool will not sign any defenders this month](https://readliverpoolfc.com/news/liverpool-fans-will-be-fuming-after-sky-sports-latest-transfer-update/), to which a lot of fans reacted angrily.

And now, if reports from England are to be believed, they are keeping their options open after [Illia Zabarnyi was offered to Liverpool via his agents](https://readliverpoolfc.com/news/journalist-rates-liverpool-chances-signing-zabarnyi-psg-chelsea/).

## Liverpool exploring deal for Illia Zabarnyi

[Zabarnyi is well known to Iraola due to their respective stints with Bournemouth](https://readliverpoolfc.com/news/journalist-rates-liverpool-chances-signing-zabarnyi-psg-chelsea/). And his case is an interesting one as he featured regularly in Ligue 1 last season but was cast aside in the UEFA Champions League.

[DaveOCKOP](https://www.daveockop.com/transfer-news/exclusive-liverpool-hold-further-talks-to-sign-illia-zabarnyi/) report that the Reds got back in touch with Zabarnyi’s agents recently after being offered the player during transfer talks for Curtis Jones.

> Illia Zabarnyi 🇺🇦 s’est arrêté aujourd’hui après l’entraînement pour signer quelques autographes et prendre quelques photos. ❤️💙\
> \
> 📽️ (IG: lolo\_jeanne) [pic.twitter.com/PRv7jGvMGO](https://t.co/PRv7jGvMGO)
>
> — Le Meilleur du PSG (@LMDPSG) [August 3, 2026](https://x.com/LMDPSG/status/2084340859038773394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

The 23-year-old has a lot of experience under his belt and can also fill in as a right-back, which could prove to be invaluable for Liverpool.

In our opinion, it would be unwise to go into the new season with the current crop of defenders, as a lot of them are injury-prone.

Zabarnyi cost PSG £57m last summer, so the Parisians will at least look to recoup that fee if they are to sell him.