Palace signing might revive Zaha Everton move
Crystal Palace are on the verge of signing a new winger as QPR ‘s Eberechi Eze finalises a move to the south London club. So could this precipitate Wilfried Zaha’s exit and might Everton be interested again?
At the moment Everton supporters are trying to digest the past few day’s news that Real Madrid star James Rodriguez might well be joining the Blues.
If, and I think it’s still a big if, that deal comes off, then that would surely mean any move for Zaha is null and void.
As I say, I still think that on balance the Rodriguez transfer is a little unlikely, despite all the excited talk of a deal nearly done etc.
His wages are huge, he has considerable injury concerns and as mentioned before, if the Toffees really are committed to completing moves for both Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure, then they wouldn’t be able to pay the kind of fee being quoted for the Colombian as well. At least not without jeopardizing or breaking Financial Fair Play rules.
So unless the club can persuade Real Madrid to drop their fee to a nominal one, or pay some of his wages if he comes on loan, then I don’t think it will happen.
So if the Rodriguez transfer doesn’t come off, would the club return to Zaha is perhaps a more realistic alternative? He certainly wouldn’t bring the superstar hype that Rodriguez would that’s for sure and shirt sales wouldn’t be as high.
Everton were of course strongly linked with him last summer, as every Blues fan will remember. An alleged transfer fell through as Palace continued to demand an eye-watering £80 million, a fee the Toffees were certainly not prepared to pay.
Now it looks as though Palace have found themselves a possible successor to Zaha in the Queens Park Rangers attacker.
To be honest Eze is someone that the Blues themselves might have looked at in more detail as he fits the profile of the kind of player Everton are interested in.
He’s young at 22, so would have potential sell-on value and possesses good skills and qualities. He also scored fourteen goals and contributed eight assists last season, not bad stats.
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I realise that was in the Championship, but there are good players in that division, some of whom can certainly make it at a higher level, maybe he’s one of them. Anyway, he’s going to Palace if these stories are correct.
Eze’s arrival might well mean that Zaha’s departure is now more likely as Palace would probably want to cash in on him and reduce their wage bill.
The Ivory Coast player would probably still favour a move to another London club, most likely Arsenal, but the Gunners might not be able to afford him now given their financial issues.
They’ve signed Chelsea forward Willian on a huge contract and have just spent nearly £30 million on Gabriel Magalhaes, beating Everton to the Brazilian defender. So I’d be surprised if they could meet Palace’s demands, even a revised fee of around £30 million or so.
As for the Blues, I’m not sure Zaha is the right player. He’s nearly 28 and had a very ordinary season last term. If the Rodriguez deal doesn’t come off and the club want more attacking options, then I think Everton should first look at other younger more affordable alternatives.