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Tottenham Showing Interest in Palace’s Wilfried Zaha

By Alexander Balano

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace during The Emirates FA Cup final match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium on May 21, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 21: Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace during The Emirates FA Cup final match between Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium on May 21, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images) /
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Tottenham have reportedly submitted a bid to Crystal Palace for Wilfried Zaha.

Rumors had mentioned Tottenham showed an interest in Wilfried Zaha after he personally spoke to Alan Pardew about wanting to leave the club.

Well, that indeed has been confirmed by Dominic Fifield of The Guardian after Spurs’ £15 million bid has been rejected by Crystal Palace.

The reason why Zaha wants to join Spurs is two-fold.

One, Spurs’ are looking for more width and pace on the flanks. At the same time, the 23-year-old Ivory Coast-born player is attracted to Tottenham competing in the Champions League.

The second reason is due to Wilfried Zaha’s current contract.

After being named Crystal Palace’s Player of the Year last term, his weekly wages of £35,000 have not improved yet.

All in all, the twice-capped England international wants to move to Spurs because they’re playing in Europe’s elite club competition and because they could pay him a higher salary — which is doubtful since Daniel Levy has to pay his players first.

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It seems logical to sign Zaha for his pace and being an impact sub off of the bench, which Mauricio Pochettino needs, but Zaha might not be the right player.

The end product is lacking in the 23-year-old at the moment. To score 27 goals and have 39 assists in 224 appearances with the Eagles looks good.

But those numbers are skewed. During the 2012-13 Championship season, Zaha made 50 appearances, scored eight goals and had 12 assists.

Since then, he’s been trying to recover his form which he did last term.

Wilfried Zaha the past three seasons:

  • 2013-14 Premier League: 17 appearances, 1 goal, 0 assists in all competitions
  • 2014-15 Premier League: 35 appearances, 4 goals, 4 assists in all competitions
  • 2015-16 Premier League: 43 appearances, 5 goals, 7 assists in all competitions

If the 23-year-old were to join Spurs, he would be a bench player and his numbers could reflect his 2013-14 campaign. That would not be worth £15 million.

Maybe Wilfried Zaha does well with Tottenham, but his value doesn’t reflect his performance which, thankfully Crystal Palace rejected Spurs’ offer.

If Tottenham sends in more bids, Palace will most likely reject them all until Levy at least matches Yannick Bolasie’s value when Everton paid £25 million. At that point, Zaha wouldn’t be worth it.

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 20: Danny Rose of Tottenham Hotspur takes on Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane on August 20, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 20: Danny Rose of Tottenham Hotspur takes on Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace at White Hart Lane on August 20, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Broadway/Getty Images) /

Spurs will now have to look elsewhere to improve their depth with time running out.

Because, Georges-Kevin N’Koudou’s arrival is still being finalized, he alone won’t be enough.

Especially considering he might not be fit in time as he has missed Tottenham’s pre-season program and the first two games of the Premier League season.

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If Mauricio Pochettino is adamant that Wilfried Zaha is a player that could help his side out this season, then it wouldn’t be surprising if Daniel Levy sends in another bid.

Also, if Zaha speaks to Steve Parish, Palace’s chairman, directly and personally hands in a transfer request, a move might be possible.

Both men, have a good relationship with one another, unlike say Wilfried Zaha and Alan Pardew.

This could expedite the process assuming the 23-year-old does in fact find the time to talk to Parish — which he has been told to do so by Pardew himself.

Though what could pose a problem is that Steve Parish is currently in New York so a deal doesn’t seem likely unless it’s made by phone.

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Whatever ends up happening with this transfer rumor it’s apparent that putting the two together: Spurs need pace, Wilfried Zaha has that, a deal would make sense.

But until this situation is cleared up, and it might not happen in time at this rate (money’s an issue), Tottenham could wind up with only two signings and a bench that could cost them games this year.

September is going to be difficult with Champions League football and the League Cup starting just around the corner.