‘I’ll fulfil my obligations towards the club’ – PSG’s Ukrainian centre-back Illia Zabarnyi opens up on training with Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov | OneFootball

PSG have signed Ukrainian international Illia Zabarnyi (22) from AFC Bournemouth in a €66m move this summer, and one of the transfer’s subplots was the centre-back’s future relationship with Matvey Safonov. The Russian international goalkeeper was a surprise signing from Les Parisiens last year, who agreed to a reported €20m transfer fee with Krasnodar.

Safonov was signed to bring competition to Gianluigi Donnarumma, and the Russian national is set to stay put in the French capital as Lucas Chevalier’s understudy. Speaking to Football 360 and picked up by L’Equipe, Zabarnyi has lifted the lid for the first time on the relationship with his Russian teammate in the broader context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since 2022.

“In my country, a full-scale war has been raging for four years”, Zabarnyi says. “The Russians are aggressors who are trying in vain to destroy the freedom and independence of Ukraine.”. The former AFC Bournemouth goes on to say that he has no relations with Russians. Regarding Safonov, the 22-year-old adds that he has “to interact with him on a professional level in training” and that he’ll fulfil his “obligations towards the club.” Zabarnyi, who has represented Ukraine at the international level, says he fully backs “the complete isolation of Russian football from the world.”

GFFN | Bastien Cheval