Dan Cook has claimed on the HLTCO podcast that a solid start to the season for Crystal Palace could see Wilfried Zaha remain at the club.
With just one year remaining on his current contract, talk of Zaha leaving Crystal Palace this summer has been rife – especially over the last week, with a move to Serie A touted as a possible destination for the winger.
It has been reported that Jose Mourinho’s Roma are looking to bring the winger over to the Italian capital, but if Palace can make a strong start to their domestic campaign, Cook believes that may see Zaha stay in SE25.
He said: “It is a shame he’s not going to be staying unless there is a significant change of heart. Who knows, we might hit the ground running across this season, take 12 points from our opening four games.
Will Zaha leave Palace?
Yes!
No!
“And if you look at our actual fixtures, if we managed to do that, then people really will start to raise their eyebrows given the quality of the opposition, and he may well decide, actually, this is where he wants to be long-term.
“But as of right now, it does seem as though he will be leaving, whether it’s this summer or next.”
TIF Thoughts on Zaha’s future…
Aside from a brief stint away at Manchester United and then on loan with Cardiff City, Zaha has spent the entirety of his career with Palace, so seeing him depart on a permanent basis for the second time would be tough to swallow for the fanbase.
This isn’t just because of the status Zaha has, given he’s the club’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League, but he now appears to be hitting peak form, having recorded back-to-back best goalscoring domestic campaigns with 25 strikes across the last two campaigns, and for a winger, that will be hard to replicate for anyone at the club or even someone who arrives as a replacement.