Illia Zabarnyi, an exciting young defender, is one of the most promising players in Europe.

The ball-playing central defender moved to Vitality Stadium on the last day of transfers in January 2023 before making his Premier League debut during the 2022/23 season.

Born in Kyiv in 2002, Zabarnyi was trained in his early career by former Ukraine internationals Serhiy Bezhenar and Artem Yashkin. He is an alumnus of Dynamo Kyiv’s youth project.

Zabarnyi is a regular for the national team and has won more than 20 matches. During Ukraine’s Euro 2022 campaign, he participated in every match as they advanced to the quarterfinals before crashing to England in Rome.