Dan Cook has admitted on the HLTCO podcast that he’s worried about how Crystal Palace will cope without Wilfried Zaha.
It’s been reported that Zaha, who’s already left Palace once during his career, has now turned down a new contract to extend his stay at Selhurst Park amid interest from a number of top European clubs including Borussia Dortmund.
Zaha has been in great form over the last few seasons, managing to register 36 goal involvements since the start of the 2020/21 campaign, which may well have seen him focus on a move away from Palace.
And Cook is quite concerned about losing Zaha as he unsure how the club will cope without the Ivory Coast international.
He said: “I hold my hands up, I am genuinely concerned about how we navigate the post-Wilfried Zaha future, because we haven’t, with the best will in the world, got the money to replace him.
Will Palace be able to replace Zaha?
Yes!
No!
“I don’t think it’s necessarily even a straightforward task with a ridiculous amount of money that you go out in the market as a Crystal Palace and get a player that can replicate what Wilfried Zaha brings us when he’s on top form.”
TIF Thoughts on Palace losing Zaha…
It’s no secret that losing Zaha would be a major blow for the Eagles as he’s been a mainstay under several different managers and their top scorer in each of the previous two campaigns, while he is also on course to achieve that feat this time around.
Therefore, if Zaha has indeed rejected a new deal and has no intention of signing one, Palace have to be doing their best to find a replacement, if not more, to ensure they don’t struggle next season.
Given that Zaha has been in and around the Palace side for many years now, it’s no surprise that Cook is indeed worried about what the future could look like without their star talisman, especially off the back of a game where they failed to register a shot on target.