Marcus Bent has backed his former side Crystal Palace to command a sizeable fee for their talismanic forward Wilfried Zaha, should the Eagles opt to cash in on the Ivorian in the summer.
A report from 90Min recently detailed how Arsenal are set to reignite their plans to swoop for the 28-year-old winger, who was the subject of a £40 million bid in 2019.
Zaha has remained in SE25 ever since and has enjoyed a scintillating season that owes in part to a tactical reshuffle by the Eagles.
Deployed as a more direct forward in a two-man pairing this season away from the wing has seen Zaha notch up 9 Premier League goals and a further two assists – a tally that has seen his goal output more than double compared to the entirety of last season.
Pairing his good form with the fact he has plenty of years left to run on his current deal, Bent believes Palace would get a large fee for Zaha – and would use the proceeds from a sale to re-invest.
Speaking to the Transfer Tavern, Bent claimed:
“Will he go? I don’t know. But if he does go, I think he’d go for a big price tag and I think that Crystal Palace will have to replace him.
“I think they’d get a good price tag and bring in a couple of players, but the players that they do bring in won’t be superstars. They will be players that just work within the team.”
A boyhood Arsenal fan, Zaha’s brother previously detailed how it was his ‘dream’ to feature for the Gunners, but Palace’s valuation of Zaha as being closer to double that of their offer proved to be an eventual stumbling block.
With two years left on his current deal going into next summer, the next transfer window could be an opportune moment to sell Zaha while Palace still hold the aces over his contract situation.
With a large bulk of the first-team squad out of contract in the summer, a Zaha sale could be integral in ensuring the funds are available to rejuvenate the squad in a pivotal turning point for the club.
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