Latest reports are confirming that Chelsea are considering making a bid for Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha. The Ivory Coast winger has been in excellent form this season and has attracted the attention of several big clubs in the transfer market.
It is believed London clubs Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are both interested in signing the player. He had an excellent start to the season where he helped Palace get out of their early slump. His unfortunate injury in the middle had Palace struggling once again. However, his return has given hope to Roy Hodgson’s men once again.
Zaha has been the standout performer in the team and the Crystal Palace man will surely be a target for many clubs in the summer. He has a contract at the club which runs till 2022 worth £100,000 a week.
Spurs have been twice thwarted in their chase for Zaha. They bid £12m in the summer of 2016, an offer Palace chairman Steve Parish blasted as ‘ridiculous’. The north London club went back with another offer of £21m but that was also rejected.
As for Chelsea, they currently have Pedro, Hazard, Willian and Ross Barkley as the wingers come attacking midfielders in the senior team. While Hazard is a star and untouchable in the first team, the same cannot be said for the rest of the three options. Barkley is still to prove his mettle after recovering from a long injury.
The case for Pedro and Willian is that both players are highly inconsistent and have a habit of disappearing from matches. While Pedro is hopelessly beyond first team quality, Willian has improved his game after a below standard start to his season. However, the Brazilian is still far off from playing twice a week at the top level and Pedro despite his efforts is not the man who can add the quality Chelsea need at the top.
This might prompt Zaha to move to the west London club where he is likely to get a decent amount of game-time as compared to Spurs. Moreover, at Chelsea a front three of Morata, Zaha and Hazard could prove to be of potent threat to the other clubs in the English league.
There is also the possibility of Hazard leaving Chelsea in which case getting a player like Zaha, who knows the league inside out, could prove to be beneficial.
