According to latest reports from The Sun, Tottenham Hotspur are planning a new bid for Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha before Tuesday’s transfer window deadline. The former Manchester United man was the subject of a £15 million bid by Mauricio Pochettino’s side in August but the Eagles rejected the offer, but now Spurs are reportedly going back in with an offer in the range of £25 million.
There were many questions over Spurs’ interest in Zaha during the summer, given he hadn’t enjoyed much success in the previous season. Zaha had just netted twice and gotten one assist last term. However, the Ivory Coast international has turned heads with his performances this year, having already smashed in four goals and notched up six assists, before he left for the Africa Cup of Nations, post which the Eagles have failed to win a single game.
However, now with Ivory Coast having been knocked out of the AFCON, Zaha is on his way back and may end up moving to the White Hart Lane before the transfer window slams shut.
While Palace would be distraught losing their key man as they battle to survive relegation, Zaha seems to be the ideal fit for Tottenham. Pochettino’s team have lacked the width and pace on the flanks and the Ivorian will bring that to the team.
He is someone who loves to take a run at defenders and often succeeds in getting past them owing to his brilliant dribbling abilities, Zaha will provide Tottenham with an alternate dimension to their already brilliant attacking force.
And there is no question that he will be a much better upgrade to summer signing Moussa Sissoko who has had a very hard time adapting to life at the Lane. Zaha has created more chances (22) this season than the Frenchman (16) and has more assists than Sissoko (2) too. The 24-year old also has attempted more crosses (59) than the former Newcastle man (26) and enjoys a much better success-rate of 31.8% compared to Sissoko’s saddening 8%. And all these numbers are better than Tottenham’s another star, Son Heung-Min. The South Korean may have scored plenty this season, but he doesn’t offer the width and the stretching of defences that Zaha will bring to this squad.
Zaha has completed 80 dribbles successfully this season, and that tally is more than Son and Sissoko’s dribbles combined, highlighting the direct threat that the Ivorian will pose on the flanks. With his pace and trickery, he can provide that additional drive for Tottenham out on the wings and while there needs to be some work done on his end product, there is no questioning that Zaha is exactly what Spurs need at this moment and could prove to be the difference maker between the title and runners-up place come the end of the season.