Ilya Zabarnyi, the 23-year-old Ukrainian defender who joined Paris Saint-Germain this summer from Bournemouth, finds himself in a rather unusual situation, having to share a dressing room with Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov (26) during the ongoing war in his home country. He has tried to remain fairly neutral in his comments to the media, but Evgeniy Levchenko, a former Ukrainian midfielder (8 caps) and now president of the Dutch Players’ Union, was more outspoken in an interview with Sport (Ukrainian version).
“Zabarnyi could have been promised, before signing the contract, that Safonov wouldn’t be in the squad.”
“Ilya’s personal position is understandable. We don’t know what agreements were made with PSG. In my opinion, Zabarnyi could have been promised, before signing the contract, that Safonov wouldn’t be in the squad, but what has happened will certainly damage his image in Ukraine. Could he have changed clubs? He could have, and PSG simply tricked Ilya, who trusted the Qataris to resolve the situation in this politically sensitive context,” he stated, as reported by Foot Mercato.
It’s understandable that the situation is delicate, and Zabarnyi would undoubtedly have been more comfortable without this issue to deal with. But Levchenko might also be exaggerating somewhat. There isn’t necessarily a conspiracy. There may have been clear discussions with the defender and the Russian goalkeeper before the transfer to avoid any potential problems. They may not be thrilled to be teammates, but there haven’t been any problems so far. The ideal situation would, of course, be for the war to end.
In the meantime, Zabarnyi and Safonov will have to adapt and maintain good communication to avoid any issues. Questions on this topic will likely be avoided in mixed zones or press conferences.
