Why Crystal Palace Must Hold On To Wilfried Zaha At All Costs
As per reports, five of the top six Premier League clubs are keeping tabs on the progress of Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha.
Zaha has been a standout performer for Palace this season, helping the club achieve safety in the Premier League by scoring 8 goals and assisting a further three. He has proved to be instrumental in changing Palace’s fortunes this season after it looked like they could be heading to the Championship.
With plenty of Premier League interest, Palace should try everything to keep hold of their gifted attacker. Zaha injured himself during Palace’s opening game of the season against Huddersfield Town. Palace lost the game 3-0 at home but above all, lost their most influential player for two months. The result? Palace went on to lose 7 straight games without scoring a single goal.
Frank de Boer was sacked after just a few games in charge and was replaced by Roy Hodgson. The veteran English manager too struggled to find a way out to arrest the club’s misery.
In the month of October, Palace hosted Chelsea, which also marked the return of Zaha from his injury. The Ivorian returned in style by scoring and guiding his team to a 2-1 win. It was Palace’s first win of the season and Zaha was the chief architect behind all three points.
Since Zaha’s return, there has been no looking back for the London club. When Palace needed people to step up, the Ivory Coast winger was often the one who made the difference. From ripping apart full-backs to performing a commendable role centrally in the absence of Christian Benteke, Zaha has done everything this season, reaping rich rewards.
With great speed, balance, agility, and dribbling quality, Zaha has impressed a lot this season. He has been the focal point of Palace’s attack, seamlessly slotting as a striker alongside Andros Townsend.
With the way the nippy attacker has performed fearlessly this season for the Londoners, it appears as if Zaha has put his disappointing spell at Manchester United behind. The move to United failed miserably but since returning back to Selhurst Park, Zaha has been a hero.
Hodgson has revived Palace since taking over from De Boer but the 70-year-old has credited his players for the turnaround in the club’s fortunes. One of the players who needs a special mention is Zaha.
His blistering displays throughout the season have seen him garner a lot of attention from England’s top clubs. The Ivorian is difficult to replace and Palace must fend off the offers that come in during the summer transfer window.