Wilfried Zaha’s reported move to Tottenham could fall through due the country he represents, according to a report from the Telegraph. Zaha has chosen to represent the Ivory Coast instead of England which could see him miss upto 6-7 weeks of domestic action every two seasons due to the African Cup of Nations.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino is a huge fan of the Palace winger and is keen to sign him up this summer. But Zaha’s decision to pick Ivory Coast, and having missed 4 weeks of action with Palace this term, could make it difficult for Pochettino to convince Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
Palace, however, value him highly and have set their sights on giving him a new contract once the season ends.
Palace chairman Steve Parish confirmed his club are keen to offer Zaha another pay rise after he signed a new £60,000-a-week deal last summer. As quoted by Football London, Parish said
“He did get a new contract last summer. I don’t think it’s about necessarily if other people are interested in him. It’s about the value of the player and the value of the player within the squad. We’ve got other players earning certain amounts and that all has to come into consideration.
“Anybody would accept that Wilfried has developed as a player this season. Six goals, nine assists, by far his best tally in the Premier League. So you’ve got to look at that. As club owners and chairmen, you want to keep everyone happy.
“We don’t want Wilfried just to stay here just because we tell him he’s got to stay here. We want him to have the right deal for him, commensurate to where he’s got to in his professional career. So that is what we’ll be sitting down and talking about.”
Spurs will have to cough up a big fee mostly in the region of £30 million and upwards as Palace value him highly and are also intent on offering him a new deal worth £110,000-a-week. Levy, however, would be cautious before dishing out a big amount to secure Zaha’s services since Spurs’ last two record signings, Sisokko and Lamela, have been void of any consistency whatsoever.
