Everton have “been given encouragement” that Wilfried Zaha could be tempted to join the club, according to reports in the Evening Standard.
The 26-year-old Crystal Palace forward has been subjected to much interest this summer, especially from Arsenal, however, it was recently revealed in the Standard Sport (Friday) that Everton are seriously interested in the Ivorian.
The Toffees are allegedly keen to add a marquee name before the season begins and Zaha has now been identified as a key target.
Arsenal have been leading the chase so far for Wilfried Zaha, and reportedly had a second offer (The Independent) worth £55million plus the loan of Reiss Nelson rejected. The previous report suggests that Palace want £80million for the attacker and have no motivation to budge on that price tag due to the sale of full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
The Standard claim that Arsenal have tried to tempt Palace by offering players as well as money, but Palace aren’t interested and want the cash. The same report claims that while Everton do not have European football – something Zaha has admitted to wanting (Daily Mail) – they do have the money to make Palace stand up and listen.
Zaha’s importance to Palace needs no introduction. He is the club’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer and before Palace beat Leicester in December last year, it had been 812 days since they had won without him.
He is now not only an established Premier League player, but one of the better – and more consistent – players over the past five seasons.
Since Zaha rejoined Palace in the 2014/15 season, he has recorded the highest number of attempted dribbles (1,296), second-highest amount of completed dribbles and duels won (588, 1299), the fifth-highest amount of touches in the opposition box (598), the second-most fouls won (437) and the most amount of penalties won (15), according to stats from within this Sky Sports article.
He would be a huge loss for Palace, which is why they are demanding £80million for the attacker. Subsequently, Arsenal are struggling to stump up that cash, however, major shareholder at Everton, Farhad Moshiri, might have the funds to offer that to Palace.
Moshiri has proven he is willing to spend in the past, proven with signings Richarlison and Sigurdsson, both costing around £35million and £45million respectively, according to Transfermarkt.
So, if Everton can stump up the funds, there is one question left to answer: would Wilfried Zaha leave Palace for Everton?
If Wilfried Zaha opts to join Everton from Palace, it would be one of the shocks of the summer.
Zaha has announced that he wants to join a club playing European football (Daily Mail), and his brother has told Sky Sports that he wants to leave the club to join Arsenal this summer. At the moment, Arsenal don’t have the money and Everton aren’t in Europe, so it’s looking okay for Palace
If Zaha was to leave Palace for Everton, it would feel like a massive slap across the face for fans who adore the player and sing his name every week. Palace fans could possibly feel a sense of betrayal from the player if he was to join a club such as Everton, as it goes against his previous claims about wanting to leave.
With Zaha already the top earner at the club (The Guardian) on a deal at a rumoured £130,000 per-week, it is unlikely that Everton will offer much more than that, so he couldn’t claim to leave for financial purposes. According to Spotrac, Bernard is currently their joint-highest earner on £120,000 per-week.
At Palace, Zaha is already a club legend and is widely considered one of their best ever players. He has earned a move to a top club – at the right price – however, Everton aren’t a top club, proven by the fact they’ve never reached the Champions League group stages and that their last major trophy was the FA Cup in 1995. Therefore, Zaha would essentially be taking a small step up the Premier League ladder, paying the price of having his legendary status wiped from the club he grew up across the road from.
Crystal Palace fans, will Zaha be swapping Selhurst Park for Goodison Park this summer? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
