Crystal Palace are reportedly ‘incensed’ at Arsenal’s opening offer for Wilfried Zaha but it got me wondering, just what is their problem?

On Tuesday morning it was reported that Arsenal had bid £40m for Wilfried Zaha leaving Palace ‘incensed.’ It is, of course, part of the transfer window narrative that Arsenal make stupid bids and go around annoying clubs while the media report on these ‘issues’  gleefully.

But what is the actual problem here? £40m is a substantial opening bid and one grounded much more in reality than the fee of £100m that Palace reportedly want for Zaha or the £80m they actually think he’s worth.

We’re also told that they don’t want to sell at all because they’re trying to get new shareholders on board. Part of their package is offering a Premier League club which is a lot more likely if they can keep Zaha.

That being the case, they should be absolutely delighted that Arsenal have come in some £60m below a figure they’ve pulled out of their arse.

The story, although not similar in the slightest, does bring back memories of Arsenal’s £40m + £1 bid for Luis Suarez. Gross and wilful misrepresentation of the facts is something the two tales do have in common, however.

Luis Suarez DID have a clause in his contract that meant another club could speak to him if they bid over £40m – the Liverpool owner, John W. Henry ADMITTED IT before also saying that Liverpool just decided to ignore it.

Read that again. Liverpool IGNORED a clause in Suarez’s contract to keep a player they didn’t want to sell and Arsenal were the ones ridiculed for their part in it.

If you knew you could buy a house for anything over £100,000, why would you offer £110,000 when £100,001 met the clause? Who is at fault for you not getting the house if the seller then refuses to honour the clause because he realised he worded it badly?

The real headline here should be Crystal Palace’s farcical valuation of Wilfried Zaha or their faux outrage but we won’t get that because he’s English so a price tag more than twice his actual value is acceptable.

Palace can, of course, ask whatever they want for Zaha, just like Arsenal can offer what they want.

But for Palace to play at being outraged because Arsenal ‘only’ offered £40m for £30m player they don’t even want to sell is simply laughable.