Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - August 15, 2022. Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha.
Crystal Palace warded off summer interest in Wilfried Zaha with a price tag well above £25m, transfer insider Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport.
The lowdown
The Eagles only actually sold one player in the summer transfer window, allowing Christian Benteke to join MLS outfit DC United for almost £5m – every other departure was a free transfer or a loan exit (Transfermarkt).
However, there were suitors for Zaha too, with Tottenham Hotspur looking into a move in the final days of the transfer window (via The Athletic).
Significantly, the Ivorian is into the final year of his contract at Selhurst Park, so as it stands, he’ll be walking away on a free transfer next summer.
The latest
Jones had previously told GiveMeSport that Palace valued Zaha in the £25m-£30m bracket, but has now claimed that they demanded ‘a lot more’ for the winger.
He revealed to the outlet: “I was told that actually, teams were put off by the prices quoted to them, and even with the contract situation at the moment, they wanted a lot more than that. So, we’ll have to wait and see if anything happens at Crystal Palace.”
The verdict
Have Palace made the right call here?
The Athletic‘s Matt Woosnam expects the club to make further attempts to persuade Zaha to sign a new deal, but isn’t sure if they’ll be successful. That’s because, at the age of 29, the forward may believe that this is his ‘greatest opportunity’ to play European football.
If he does leave for nothing, there may be those who criticise Palace for foregoing a potential £25m windfall, but equally, key decision-makers at Selhurst Park may believe that one more season of having the 29-year-old in south London is even more valuable.
Indeed, Zaha has begun the new campaign in electric form with four goals in his first five matches, including one at Anfield against Liverpool and a double in the 3-1 win over Aston Villa.
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