Roy Hodgson will ignore any speculation surrounding Wilfried Zaha, but has admitted that a big offer would have to be seriously considered.
Zaha has been Crystal Palace’s star player this season and, as expected, has been linked with a move in January. Arsenal have been mentioned as one of the clubs who could be interested, along with Manchester City.
On the eve of the two sides playing each other in the Premier League, Roy Hodgson was keen to dismiss any speculation. However, he did admit that if somebody made a big offer, the club would have a decision to make.
“Speculation is speculation,” Hodgson said, as reported by Football London. “The only time I will ever get interested in it is if the chairman comes to me with a situation the club has to deal with.
“In the meantime it won’t be any point for me or Steve Parish or Wilfried Zaha to deal with speculation, but I will expect one day that if Wilf continues like he is doing at the moment that the club will be faced with a situation where someone wants to put a lot of money on the table in order to prise him away.
“That will be a massive decision for the club because I know how much everyone at Palace; fans, owners, appreciate him and he’s the last person we want to lose. But it’s no good making bold statements that this or that will not happen, things do happen and when they do you deal with them.”
Arsenal were interested in Zaha back in 2013 during his first stint as a Palace player. He moved to Manchester United instead, where he barely played before returning to the Eagles.
If Arsenal are interested again, it’ll be because they need a replacement for Alexis Sanchez. Zaha happens to play in the same position, and can be unpredictably dangerous like the Chilean. It’s clear, though, that Palace will demand a huge fee for their star player.
The 25-year-old has scored four goals in 13 Premier League appearances this season. His form has helped Palace escape the relegation zone and climb to 16th in the table, but whether he’s good enough for the Gunners remains to be seen.