Napoli are lining up a shock move for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, reports suggest.
According to Sky Sports News, the Italian outfit – managed by Carlo Ancelotti – are prepared to pay £54.6m for the Ivorian winger.
The 26-year-old has generated a lot of interest this summer, with Arsenal, Everton and Chelsea all apparently being interested (The Telegraph).
Arsenal had been the frontrunners for Zaha for the majority of the summer, however, after capturing Nicolas Pepe – who ironically is said to have chosen the Gunners over Napoli – they have now become big outsiders for his signature.
Now Napoli will turn their attention to £80m-rated Zaha, who is said to still want out at Crystal Palace, though Palace have no intention to sell unless their valuation is met.
Napoli are clearly after a winger this summer as a failed attempt for Nicolas Pepe suggests, so it is not too surprising to see them interested in Zaha. They have also been interested in Hirving Lozano from PSV, according to Gianluca Di Marzio.
With Arsenal having turned elsewhere, Everton distancing themselves from the player (talkSPORT) and Chelsea handed a two-window ban, Napoli are probably the best suited to purchase the player.
Money might be the biggest problem for Napoli, with Palace demanding £80m that would easily surpass their current club-record fee of £35m (Transfermarkt), which they paid for Gonzalo Higuain from Real Madrid.
Napoli might interest Zaha considering that they are playing in the Champions League – a competition the player himself has admitted he would like to play in after an interview with the Daily Mail in April.
Despite this, the chances of getting this deal over the line look slim: Palace only have eight days before the window shuts and may still have business to do. They will want to concentrate on bringing players in rather than consider selling anyone if the size of the squad is anything to go by.
In a recent interview after a pre-season match (via The Guardian) Roy Hodgson sent a warning to the board over a lack of investment. He said: “I thought we were all pretty much on the same page: we definitely need players, we definitely need bodies because our squad is very small.”
Chairman Steve Parish and sporting director Dougie Freedman are now under enormous pressure to get more players for positions they need reinforcements in – and any club going in for Zaha may have found themselves coming in too late, as Palace won’t have the time to replace the attacker who scored 10 goals and assisted five (WhoScored) in the last campaign.
Palace’s valuation of £80m might just be too much for Napoli, who have never spent more than £35m, according to Transfermarkt.
With only eight days left in the window, Palace have huge strides to make in the transfer market and the loss of Zaha might leave them with too much to do.
If Palace lose their star man without getting any more players in then they could seriously put their Premier League status at risk – and relegation would cost them a lot more than their valuation of Zaha.
Crystal Palace fans, will Zaha end up at Napoli? Let us know what you think by commenting below!
