Crystal Palace are facing a crucial period this summer with both Arsenal and Everton chasing the services of key man Wilfried Zaha. Any deal to sell the Ivorian international this summer could have massive repercussions on the club and potentially determine their Premier League status.
Zaha has cemented himself as a key player for Palace and in truth, Roy Hodgson’s side have relied on his quality more than they would care to admit in recent years. It looks like they may have seen the last of him in a Palace shirt, with both Arsenal and Everton expressing an interest in a summer swoop.
Palace are refusing to sell on the cheap and their high asking price could derail any potential move away from Selhurst Park. However, should a deal go through this summer then Palace would have a lot of work to do between then and the end of the window to ensure that they have enough quality in their side to beat the drop next season.
Most betting apps may not have Palace among the favourites to go down as things stand, but you can imagine that their odds will seriously shorten if Zaha does go on to leave the club before the transfer window closes.
The 26-year-old scored 10 times for Hodgson’s side last season, assisting a further five goals, but the statistics don’t give the full picture. Such is his importance to the team, Palace are a completely different outfit with him in the line-up.
Supporters using betting apps on android/iPhone can find offers on https://bettingapps.org if they fancy backing Palace to avoid the drop from the Premier League, with or without Zaha in their squad.
Even if any potential suitors were to match Palace’s eye-watering £80 million price tag, it would be hard to replace the impact that Zaha had on the squad. He’s a player that strikes fear in the opposition defenders through his pace, trickery and general unpredictability.
With Hodgson also struggling to find the right striker to lead the line for his side, they would also be losing a huge element of Palace’s goal threat. Any money banked from Zaha’s potential sale you imagine would be invested straight back into the squad, but that does not always guarantee success, as proven in recent years.
The one real concern supporters may have with the Zaha speculation is that despite the ongoing rumours of a move to Arsenal, there has not been much talk of who could be coming in the opposite direction. The likes of Allan-Saint Maximin have been mooted, but the young French winger remains an unknown prospect after impressing in Ligue 1 with Nice. Any deal for Zaha to join Arsenal could see someone like Reiss Nelson join Palace on loan. The latter is an exciting England youth international who impressed at Hoffenheim in Germany last season. Despite both players being exciting prospects, there is a clear drop off in quality when compared to Zaha and it only highlights the difficult task ahead of the club as they tried to find a way to replace the player.
Crystal Palace fans will be hoping that the lack of replacements being reported could be a sign that the club are in fact confident of keeping hold of their star player, but it is a risky game to play ahead of the start of the new campaign. The club will be fully aware of how difficult the player will be to replace and should look to resolve his future as soon as possible to ensure that they can prepare for the campaign as best they possibly can.
