Football Daily’s Chris Hamill believes the 2022/23 Premier League season could be the last season for Wilfried Zaha at Crystal Palace as the player is desperate to play for a Champions League club.
For a few seasons now, Eagles star man Zaha has been linked with moves away, but the Ivorian has stayed put at his boyhood club and helped them stay in the Premier League season after season.
However, Hamill believes this upcoming season could be Zaha’s last dance with the south London outfit as his contract expires at the end of the season and the tricky winger wants to play for a Champions League-level club before he retires.
Hamill said on Football Daily’s Sunday Vibes show: “Zaha is in the final year of his contract and he’s desperate to play at a Champions League club. I think this could be a bit of a last dance scenario for him. He might even head out to the continent after this, there was obviously rumours with Roma, wasn’t there, this summer.
“I feel like he could take it up a notch, because he’s practically playing for the next three or four years of his career, the stakes are high for him.”
TIF Thoughts on Hamill’s comments…
Zaha has been an incredible servant for Palace over the years, picking up 429 appearances with 83 goals and 73 assists while being the focal point in the side and helping them remain in the Premier League for years.
However, with his contract expiring in the summer of 2023, it is fair to say it could be time for him to move on, and as Hamill stated, Zaha wants to play in the highest echelons of European football, the Champions League, and it’s hard to say he doesn’t deserve it at this point in his career.
Last season, he enjoyed his highest goal return as a Palace player, bagging 15 goals and two assists in all competitions, while leading the league for fouls against with 76, as well as ranking in the 83rd percentile for dribbles completed and the 79th for progressive passes received.
We believe picking up a player like Zaha on a free would be a steal for an elite-level club and with his ability to win fouls and his improved goalscoring record, he deserves a big move which does feel like a matter of time away.
Will Zaha leave at the end of the season?Yes
No
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