Everton have held an evergreen interest in Wilfried Zaha. The saga began back in 2019 when the Toffees battled Arsenal for Zaha’s services but Crystal Palace slapped a mammoth price tag which forced both the clubs to look for other options.
The Eagles had put a price tag of £80 million on their prized asset as they desperately held onto Zaha. Everton were reportedly willing to pay as much as £60 million for the Ivorian. Arsenal were ready with a £40 million bid but Palace instantly rejected it.
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The Toffees eventually signed Alex Iwobi from Arsenal and the Gunners broke the bank to sign Nicolas Pepe. Neither of the transfers have worked out the way the respective clubs would’ve wanted.
So the transfer talk for Zaha rumbled on in the summer of 2020. Crystal Palace were reportedly ready to allow him to leave in the summer if an appropriate offer arrived as he was looking for a new opportunity.
Arsenal, Everton, Dortmund were again mentioned as clubs chasing the 28-year-old. However, no concrete offer arrived as the North Londoners instead signed Willian and Everton had to shift all their focus on signing a centre back and offloading outcasts.
According to Daily Star, Arsenal have reignited their desire to sign Zaha this summer despite the difficulties that may arise. The club is prepared to sell a number of players to finance the Zaha deal and is fairly confident that they can land the Palace attacker.
Should Everton also attempt signing Wilfried Zaha?
Everton have often been deprived of energy on the flanks or been regarded as too slow sometimes. Zaha is pacey, direct and can fit in a number of roles. The Ivorian’s blistering pace and ability to take on and dribble past defenders make him a constant threat.
Even though the forward had an underwhelming campaign in front of goal last year, he held the record for most players dribbled past in 2019-20 Premier League with 172. This season Zaha has 41 successful dribbles and continues to be an attacking outlet for Palace. Playing bit more centrally this season, Zaha has scored 9 goals in 22 Premier League games. (stats via FBref)
Everton do not need a secondary striker and Zaha is too good to be a backup to Dominic Calvert-Lewin but what the Toffees need is a player with abundant energy and directness in his play, especially on the flanks. Iwobi can orchestrate that role but he is far too inconsistent and often ends up losing the ball.
Zaha will enter the last two years of his deal this summer and Palace may be willing to let Zaha go to carry out their own rebuild. The Ivory Coast International has a market value of £40.5 million (Transfermarkt) and any interested party will have to shell out a similar amount.
Should the Toffees also target Wilfried Zaha?