How Palace missed the perfect time to cash in on Chelsea and Arsenal target Zaha
FT Desk
- 5 Apr 2022 21:13 BST
- 5 min read
Crystal Palace would, finally, be willing to listen to offers for forward Wilfried Zaha this summer, according to reports in England.
The London club have for a number of years now held off on selling their prized forward but may now look to cash in on him ahead of next season.
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According to the Daily Mail, Patrick Vieira and his backroom staff are far more relaxed about the prospect of Zaha moving on, following the emergence of Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze.
The most recent rumours in England have suggested that Arsenal are leading the race to sign the 29-year-old forward, as Mikel Arteta and his backroom staff desperately look for ways to add more goals to their side next season.
However, while Palace may be willing to negotiate over a price for their star forward, some at the club may wonder whether they missed the ideal opportunity to get the most money from Zaha’s sale a few years ago.
Zaha’s fall in value
Since making the move from Manchester United in 2013 for €11.8 million, Zaha has been linked with moves to Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, Liverpool and even a return to the Old Trafford club.
However, when we look at the manner in which the player’s value has changed over the past eight years at Palace we can clearly see when the best time would have been to sell the forward.
Indeed, as the image above shows, Zaha slowly but surely gathered value from 2013 right through until the start of 2020, when he hit a peak value of no less than €39.6m.
At that moment in time, Zaha was being linked with a move to Chelsea and Liverpool and due to his value at that moment in time, Palace could have demanded as much as €46m for the forward.
Unfortunately, since then Zaha’s value has notably dropped due to a number of reasons. Perhaps the first one is the fact that the striker’s return of 20 goals and assists in the 2019/20 Premier League campaign was then followed by just 13 the following season.
Additionally, Zaha is now set to turn 30 in November of this year, which undoubtedly impacts the value of a player that relies on his speed and sharpness to perform.
As such, Zaha is currently valued at €24m and it’s unlikely that Palace would be able to demand much more for their forward.
