Former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan thinks Arsenal should have followed through with their pursuit of Wilfried Zaha, as the Gunners sealed a club-record transfer for Nicolas Pepe from Lille.
That said, Jordan felt a move to the other half of north London would suit Zaha more – not that he expects Arsenal’s rivals to be in for the Palace winger.
But Jordan maintained that Arsenal should have stumped up the cash for the Ivorian, before plumping for Zaha’s international teammate Pepe in a £72m deal.
He told talkSPORT: “I think he would like to have played for Arsenal, I think playing for Tottenham is a slightly better fit, but they are not in the market for him.
“Wilf came out of my academy and part of the group of players I produced, who made his debut just after I left and he is a prestigious talent.
“He’s a proper player and now he has his head up, he’s starting to see things more on the pitch, making runs and scoring goals.
“In my view, he’s every bit as good as Mahrez and if he’s £60m, then so is Wilfried Zaha. In this ridiculous market, he is worth the money.”
Without wanting to embarrass Jordan for seemingly trying to take the credit for Zaha’s rise to fame, it sounds like his comments are more of a sign that he is simply rather gutted that one of his so-called prodigies has looked to have missed out on a big move that had looked on the cards, with Arsenal putting in multiple bids for the 26-year-old.
After all, Jordan continued on that subject, going on to play down hopes of Zaha leaving Selhurst Park in the near future, saying: “I still have doubts about whether he will, but I’m not sure it will be in this window.”
Although to be fair to Jordan, Zaha’s goal return at Palace last season was quite similar to that of Riyad Mahrez’s at Manchester City – so perhaps his view on the player’s potential price tag has some validity about it.
Though in light of Arsenal’s capture of Pepe and the transfer window coming to a close, it looks as though Zaha’s wish to leave Crystal Palace for greater things will not be granted until January at the earliest.
