Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has admitted that Everton target Wilfried Zaha may be sold this summer.
Everton really has their work cut out this summer as they continuously try to get deals over the line. But so far, no success has been achieved. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Gabriel Magalhaes are now far from Everton’s reach. However, there is one player that the Toffees may be successful in signing and that is Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace. The hopes of signing Zaha have skyrocketed after Eagles manager Roy Hodgson admitted that the Ivorian may leave this summer.
Wilfried Zaha has been itching to get out of Crystal Palace since the last summer. Arsenal and Everton were in a tussle to sign him last summer but owing to the asking price of over £60 million, none of the aforementioned teams signed Zaha and Everton settled with Alex Iwobi. It is a different thing all together that the Iwobi project hasn’t fared well, with the Nigerian shockingly underperforming.
Wilfried Zaha has previously mentioned that he wants to play for a team with Europe ambitions and not remain stuck at a club that at best can achieve a mid-table finish. Everton are hoping to challenge for Europe as the multidimensional overhaul begins this summer and signing the Ivory Coast international could be the headline deal of the summer for the Toffees.
According to Daily Mail, Roy Hodgson has disclosed a conversation Zaha had with him when the Englishman took over the reins at Selhurst Park. The 27 year old told his boss that he would relish a move and his wish to leave maybe granted this summer.
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"Wilf has made it clear, ever since I came to the club really, that he would relish a move and would like to move on and find some pastures new.‘But he’s a very valuable player and the club realises his value and appreciates his value and so really everything will depend I guess – as it always does – [on] what sort of offers the club is going to receive for him and how they will equate that with the need to keep him or the need, maybe, to satisfy his wishes, and allow him to go after giving good service to the club for a period of time."
The Eagles were adamant on not letting the Ivorian leave last summer and slapping a massive price tag to fend off any interest, despite the player pleading to be put on the market.
It looks like Wilfried Zaha may not have to put in a transfer request this summer as Hodgson himself is open to the idea of letting him leave the Crystal Palace cages of mediocrity.
This will be a huge breakthrough for Everton in their chase of Wilfried Zaha. Arsenal are no longer interested in him after signing Nicolas Pepe but the Royal Blues are standing with open arms to welcome the 27 year old to Goodison Park.
As far as the transfer fees are concerned, Zaha is valued in the bracket of £40 million and even though spending a huge sum may put the Merseysiders at the risk of FFP, Marcel Brands could be cheeky and possibly strike a deal with performance related bonuses to decrease the overall cost.
Wilfried Zaha continues to impress and Everton signing him this summer could see him become the face of the mega rebuild.