The Athletic’s journalist Dominic Fifield has recently talked about Wilfried Zaha and the possibility of the player leaving the club this summer.
Fifield was a guest on the latest episode of the Totally Football Show podcast. The panel discussed multiple transfers in English and European football. They also focused on Zaha and his situation at Selhurst Park. The journalist doubted if clubs would be willing to meet Palace’s asking price for their star player.
The Guardian recently reported that Zaha remains ‘intent’ on leaving Palace this summer and he is ready to ‘remain patient’ to get a move. Palace had rejected two bids from Everton last summer and Arsenal were interested in him as well. The Evening Standard stated that Palace’s valuation stands at £70million.
Fifield discussed Zaha’s situation and he had doubts about whether clubs would be willing to match the Eagles’ valuation of the 27-year-old, after suggesting that the arrival of new signing Eberechi Eze would be to complement the Ivorian rather than to replace him.
He said: “Wilfried Zaha turns 28 later this year and as far as Palace are concerned, he is going to command a massive fee. We’re still probably talking £60 million to prise him away from Selhurst Park because that is what he’s worth to the club and he’s got three years left on his contract – and most suitors out there will baulk at that.
Will Zaha end up staying at Palace this summer?
Yes, he'll stay
No, he'll leave
“They won’t be willing to go anywhere near that figure. So I suspect we’re going to be in the same sort of situation we’ve been in for the last two summers with Wilfried Zaha where he will want to go, he’ll want to play Champions League football, but the acceptable offers simply won’t be there.”
TIF Thoughts…
Zaha made 39 appearances in all competitions in the 2019/20 season and he could contribute to only nine goals for the Eagles. All of those goal contributions came in the Premier League, where he played 38 games (as per Transfermarkt).
The 27-year-old racked up a WhoScored rating of 6.98 for his performances last season and he was the club’s best performer in that regard. That is a reflection of how important he is for Palace. If he really wants to leave the club though, Palace would want enough money from his sale so that they can replace him with a player of an equal quality. So, it makes sense for them to demand a big fee for Zaha.