Seldom comes a player in the spotlight, whose ability to lead the team towards success and perform at his best day in day out mesmerizes not only the club faithful but also the fans and officials of other clubs. One such player is Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace, who has been the inspiration to their success in the last term. The Ivory Coast international not only helped Palace survive relegation but also inspired them to finish the season at the 11th place in the Premier League table.
The Eagles started the last season in the most disastrous fashion possible, suffering seven losses in their first seven matches. They were not able to score even a single goal in that period and were looking certain to be doomed to relegation. However, the new manager Roy Hodgson showed his charisma to turn back the season on its head and helped his side revive big time, his prime weapon being the 25-year-old spearhead from Africa.
Despite an injury that saw him miss a few matches in the early stage of the last season, the former Manchester United winger came back strongly and made an immediate impact, scoring 9 goals in 29 appearances in the Premier League and assisting his teammates on 5 more occasions.
His pace and agility, along with his ability to score goals from a variety of ranges made him the talisman for the Eagles as they saw off the challenges from a number of big clubs including the likes of Chelsea. He earned rave reviews from a number of experts from all over England and attracted the attention of quite a few clubs in the process, including Tottenham Hotspur.
The North London club have started to feature in the top four on a regular basis in the last few seasons and will be doing the same in the next term as well. Mauricio Pochettino has developed a team of youngsters into world beaters and is looking to add more strength to his side in the near future. He is one of the biggest admirers of the 25-year-old Ivory Coast international and is pondering over making a move for him this summer.
Hodgson, on the other hand, will not be willing to let go of his prized asset and is looking to tie him down to a giant contract. It says that the player will earn £120,000 a week under the improved terms. He signed a new deal last summer only but the Eagles are well aware of the high demand of the player in the market are eager to make sure that none of the suitors can be able to lure him out of Selhurst Park.
