Roy Hodgson did extremely well last season to take Crystal Palace to as high as the 11th place in the points table. The English manager is now desperate to add some quality to his side, to try and take them a step further next season.
However he will also have to work on the future of some of the star players at the club who are gathering interest from elsewhere and one such player, who has now rejected a contract extension is Wilfried Zaha.
Born and brought up in Ivory Coast, the 25-year old started his senior career with Crystal Palace back in 2010 and in his three years at Selhurst Park, he showed enough promise for Manchester United to come calling in 2013. However, he was just a 21-year old then and failed to make an impact, making just two league appearances at Old Trafford, before being sold to Crystal Palace in 2015, after a loan spell in London the season before.
In his second stint with the Eagles, Zaha had managed to establish himself as one of the most productive wingers in the English league. He registered seven league goals the season before last but took his game a notch up registering nine goals and three assists in just 28 starts. He was probably the best player for Palace in these past two seasons and is now wanted by some of the biggest clubs in Europe.
A winger with a lot of pace and skill, Zaha is a hard man to mark and has shown great determination and confidence in his abilities. He can beat the best defenders with his movement and can also produce through balls and crosses for his teammates. He is a gifted player, and at just 25, has a huge future ahead of him.
So it does not come as a surprise that Palace have offered him a new five-year deal, which will see him earn £120,000-a-week. However, it is now understood that Zaha has rejected all such offers and is now looking to quit the club this summer.
Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur are desperate for his services but the Eagles are expected to hold out for £70m but even at that price, Zaha is a player Palace just cannot afford to lose.
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He has been the backbone of the squad for over two years now and is Hodgson’s creator in chief at the moment. He is a player who is hard to replace and though the £70m will give Hodgson a chance to rebuild, the former United man will surely be missed next season if he ends up quitting Selhurst Park this summer.
