Why Chelsea FINALLY Turned A Corner.
Well, that came from out of the blue. Wilfried Zaha has now officially joined Galatasaray, putting an abrupt end to speculation surrounding the Ivorian staying at Crystal Palace.
The Ivory Coast international has signed a three-year contract with the Turkish giants, even accepting less than our £200,000-a-week offer of a four-year deal to secure a move away from Selhurst Park.
As Crystal Palace‘s greatest ever player leaves SE25, where does Steve Parish go from here? Let’s see what he and Dougie Freedman can do about the situation…
What Crystal Palace must do as Zaha leaves for Galatasaray
Optically, it seems as if Parish hinged his entire summer plans on Zaha’s decision, as we are yet to make any signings – aside from Jefferson Lerma on a free transfer.
Now the 30-year-old has made up his mind, Freedman has work to do.
Not only do Crystal Palace have to replace Zaha, but there was a need for another forward in the first place as Odsonne Edouard, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jordan Ayew struggle for goals.
In our view, two new attackers should be the minimum, with Flamengo wonderkid Matheus Franca appearing to be a likely signing based on reports emerging from Brazil – a £26m deal has been agreed, according to Torcedores.
Callum Hudson-Odoi, who Chelsea are happy to sell for just £8m, according to the Guardian, would be another wise move in the wake of Zaha’s exit.
Both forwards operate on the left flank, where they have made careers out of driving at full-backs and getting people off their seats.
The midfield trio of Eberechi Eze, Lerma and Cheick Doucoure actually looks very healthy indeed, so aside from the frontline, a new right-back is needed as Crystal Palace embark on life without Zaha for the first time since 2013.
Having said that, Parish and Freedman’s workload will increase significantly if we end up losing the likes of Michael Olise, Marc Guehi and Doucoure, who are attracting interest from Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool respectively.
Hopefully, the departure of a club legend does not cause too much chaos at Selhurst Park – although it certainly could unless we react accordingly.
