By Moses Onyilo Adikwu
Talking about speculations linking players with big moves, Crystal Palace forward, Wilfried Zaha is no stranger to that. The Ivorian over the years has been linked with big money moves away from Selhurst park where he’s built a reputation for himself as one of the most priced assets of the English premier league
His pace, trickery and goalscoring abilities amongst others have caught the eye of many, little wonder he’s always made the headlines during the most recent transfer windows. However, Crystal Palace have been quite reluctant to let their star man go, rejecting offers after offers for the 27 year old.
Flashback to August, 2019, the Ivory Coast international handed in a transfer request in what had been a very frustrating summer for him. Zaha who was keen on a move away from the Eagles had been a subject of offers which tried to price him away from Selhurst park, however, those offers were below Crystal Palace’s £100 million valuation for the then 26 year old. Hence, the transfer request. Arsenal and Everton were the clubs strongly linked but a move to either of those clubs never and is quite unlikely to materialize in the nearest future.
Crystal Palace’s reluctance to sell Zaha isn’t a surprise though as the former Manchester United man has been a key figure for the club in recent seasons having scored 56 goals and provided 70 assists in 353 appearances for the club and coupled with all the media hype he’s gotten over the past few years, the Crystal Palace man undoubtedly has the potentials to play for a bigger club but the recent happenings in the recent transfer windows has provided an interesting twist to the Wilfried Zaha transfer saga as all the clubs who showed keen interest in the Ivorian have all gotten alternative options to Zaha in the transfer market.
Arsenal who were interested last summer had to pick an alternative option in fellow Ivorian, Nicolas Pepe (24) in whom a large proportion of the fan base felt had more to offer the Gunners. Chelsea on the other hand were linked to signing Zaha in January but opted for Moroccan super star, Hakim Ziyech instead, and further rumours linking the Blues with top talents like Philipe Coutinho, Jadon Sancho and Leon Bailey has contributed in quenching the speculation of a possible Zaha move.
So what next for the forward? A big move away from Crystal Palace doesn’t seem to be on the cards in the nearest future, a move can’t be ruled out though as Zaha’s still got the talent to attract Europe’s finest elites. The player has kept his cool so far providing solid performances for his London club being the professional that he is and he certainly deserves a move away from the club but judging from recent happenings, it seems he’s probably gonna stay put for one more season before he gets his much desired move. Clubs like Arsenal certainly won’t sign him, they’re not the biggest of spenders and to see them cough out a whopping £100 million pounds or anything close to that for a Wilfried Zaha who’s gonna turn 28 this year would be a great shock. It’s also interesting to note that the player’s contract expires in the summer of 2023 which isn’t close, Zaha would be 30 by then.
MoSoccer.net 