Wilfried Zaha potentially returning to Crystal Palace has become a huge talking point this summer.
The Selhurst Park favourite has asked to leave Galatasaray, as confirmed by Cenk Ergun, the Turkish side’s Director of Football, and wants a return to the Premier League, having been left out of the squad for last weekend’s 2-1 win over Hatayspor.
There were strong rumours regarding Wilfried Zaha coming back to Crystal Palace before transfer deadline day falls on Friday 30th August – Fabrizio Romano even claimed a deal was close before backtracking – although Steve Parish has now addressed the situation on talkSPORT…
What Steve Parish said about Wilfried Zaha
The 59-year-old has now admitted that a deal is unlikely to be struck with Galatasaray this summer.
Parish said: “I’d have Wilf Zaha back in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’ll be possible this summer.”
A story from The Athletic stated that “tax implications associated with a move back from Turkey” are likely to scupper the Ivory Coast international’s chances of returning to the Premier League this summer, despite Galatasaray accepting his desire to leave.
That same article mentioned that Crystal Palace and Leicester have been exploring a loan move for Zaha, although it would now be a major surprise if a deal materialised following Parish’s comments.
Time for Crystal Palace to move on
Zaha is a bonafide legend at Crystal Palace, and it was therefore no surprise to see huge excitement generated when rumours of his return first emerged this summer – on our part as well as many supporters.
However, this excitement was fuelled purely through sentiment, as opposed to the deal making much sense financially, and also tactically.
For example, Oliver Glasner already has a number of right-footed forwards who occupy similar areas to Zaha, such as Ebere Eze, Matheus Franca and Odsonne Edouard, while the Telegraph claimed that Galatasaray want a fee of £9m just to loan the Ivorian out for the 2024/25 campaign, which is far too high.
If a deal were still to happen out of the blue, it would admittedly be fantastic to see the 31-year-old return under an ambitious manager who genuinely has the coaching ability and drive to win one of the two domestic cup competitions.
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Ultimately – however – it is probably for the best that Zaha does not return to Crystal Palace this summer, with all things considered.
