Ilya Zabarnyi

Key strength: Aerial dominance

Defensive anchor

At the summit of Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain's ambitious post-Mbappé reconstruction finds its defensive anchor in 23-year-old Ukrainian centre-back Ilya Zabarnyi. With PSG perched atop the table on formidable form—three wins from their last five outings—Zabarnyi has quietly become indispensable to Luis Enrique's evolving project. The numbers paint a picture of defensive excellence and remarkable discipline: 32 appearances, one goal, and just a single yellow card across 2,405 minutes of commanding presence. That solitary booking speaks volumes—tactical intelligence rare in modern defenders. While Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Randal Kolo Muani grab headlines with attacking flair, Zabarnyi provides the steel that liberates them to express themselves. Valued at €40 million—extraordinary for a young centre-back—the Ukrainian international embodies the calculated ambition of this new PSG era. No longer reliant on galacticos alone, the Parisians have invested in foundation stones. Zabarnyi's aerial dominance and game-reading ability make him exactly that: the €40m cornerstone upon which titles are built.