Everton to battle Tottenham to sign £40 million speedster wanted since 2019
There are several things certain in life for an Everton fan: Birth, death and reading the links of Wilfried Zaha to Everton every summer. The Toffees have been constantly linked with the Crystal Palace forward for several years now.
It all began in the summer of 2019 when the Merseysiders had shown interest in Zaha. Arsenal were also keen on the Ivorian and were ready to splash the cash and beat Everton to his signing. Crystal Palace slapped a humongous price tag of £80 million to stave off interest from the Gunners and the Royal Blues.
Everton were even prepared to shell out £70 million for the attacker who was considering leaving Selhurst Park. However, with no club prepared to adhere to Palace’s financial demands, Zaha stayed. As a result, Arsenal broke the bank to sign Nicolas Pepe and the Toffees moved onto sign Alex Iwobi for £34 million from the North Londoners on summer transfer deadline day in 2019. The Nigerian has failed to impress the Everton faithful over the course of two seasons and is now largely a benchwarmer, often restricted to substitute appearances under Carlo Ancelotti.
Back to the Zaha saga, Everton were once again linked with the former Manchester United man in summer 2020. This time around, the player was looking to leave Palace for a new opportunity and then boss Roy Hodgson had admitted that the Ivory Coast international could leave should a proper offer arrive on the table.
Everton still keen on Wilfried Zaha
In the end, all proved to be just paper talk and Zaha never came close to leaving Palace. Its summer 2021 and the Zaha talks to Everton have resurfaced. According to Goal, Everton and Tottenham will battle to sign the 28 year old. However, the Crystal Palace will not let go of their talisman easily and are prepared to fight to keep him at the club.
The Toffees have a strong interest in the 28 year old as they look to add firepower to their attack. Ancelotti stated that the club is looking for a winger who has the capacity to score goals and be a lethal presence in the final third. Everton’s love for Zaha never diminished and that is why the club still remain hopeful of landing the Ivorian despite previous failed attempts.
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The 28 year old has two years left on his current deal and has a market value of £40 million. The report states that an amount in this range will be enough to convince Palace to sanction a sale. Palace are moving in a transitional summer period as they look to appoint Hodgson’s successor after the 73 year old left the club at the end of the season.
Players like Christian Benteke, Mamadou Sakho, Gary Cahill, Patrick van Aanholt, Scott Dann and several other first team players are out of contract this summer. The incoming manager will have to reshape the squad and also take a decision on Zaha. The Eagles want to keep the forward but the player has previously stated his desire to take up a new challenge and go to a bigger club.
Everton are not playing in Europe but came agonizingly close to achieving a European berth. Ancelotti’s side will once again push for Europe next season and having a player of Zaha’s calibre in the ranks will ease the process.
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Will the Toffees manage to sign Wilfried Zaha this summer?