Tottenham have long been linked Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha but whether or not if Tottenham are really interested in the Ivorian, it is not actually known. According to The Sun, Spurs were all ready to move for Zaha but no concrete news emerged after that.
However, The Telegraph now reports that the move might not take place after all, as Tottenham see the Palace man’s national commitments as a hindrance. Zaha represents Ivory Coast national team and would be representing the country in the Africa Cup of Nations once in two years.
This has potentially led to Spurs cooling their interest in the player, as they feel it wouldn’t be a good prospect to sign the 24-year old. The report also says that Crystal Palace rate him at around £30 million. Zaha missed up to 4 weeks of action this season due to his participation in the Africa Cup of Nations’17. This, together with the amount of money involved, doesn’t seem to be an appealing transfer to Tottenham hierarchy, who are set to drop their interest in the player.
Spurs really need a winger in their ranks as Moussa Sissoko has failed since his summer move. Erik Lamela suffered an unfortunate injury and is still recovering from it. By any probability, Tottenham would be lacking quality on the wings next season too, and it is important that they sign a quality wide player soon.
Palace chairman Steve Parish confirmed his club are willing to give Zaha another big pay rise after signing him from Manchester United in 2015. Parish was quoted by The Telegraph:
“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.”
Despite these comments, it wouldn’t really be a problem to lure Zaha away from Selhurst Park, but now that Tottenham have dropped their interest in the player, we’ll have to wait to see who the club decides to target instead.
