Crystal Palace are in talks over the return of Wilfried Zaha, but Simon Jordan is not sure.
Just 13 months after his exit, Wilfried Zaha could already be coming back to Crystal Palace with talks ongoing over a potential loan swoop.
Zaha is said to be open to the move which would see him depart Turkey just a year after losing his place in the team toward the back end of the 2023/24 season
The club legend decided to leave in the first place for European football, and if he returns to Palace this summer it could be with the knowledge that this is the target this season – as Joachim Andersen confirmed.
Now, former Palace chairman Simon Jordan has had his say on Zaha returning.
Simon Jordan takes issue with Zaha to Palace
As Zaha to Palace continues to heat up, now Jordan has had his say whilst discussing Zaha on TalkSPORT. After praising the natural ability of the winger, Jordan took some issue with the potential addition for Palace.
“Coming back to Palace, I thought about it. They had moved on from the Zaha period of time where everyone alleged that the only time Crystal Palace could win was when Wilfried Zaha was in the starting line-up, and it wasn’t just an allegation, the statistics bore out that thinking.
“But it moved on to Eberechi Eze and of course [Michael] Olise – Olise is now gone, and Eze may well go. So it’s kind of lazy to think that Zaha will go back to Palace on that basis.
“If he’s still operating at a high level, then why not as part of a raft of transactions? Because you don’t get to sign Wilfried Zaha back on a free-transfer [loan] ultimately picking up some heavy wages, but still no transfer fee. And then bank £150m from selling other players and get away with it. You don’t get to do that.”
Jordan makes a fair point around the finances, with Olise fetching around £50m, Marc Guehi possibly around £60m and then the same for Eze, Palace need to reinvest that money into the squad.
A free transfer won’t happen but we assume he meant a loan.
There are so many talented players who the Eagles could now afford – so to just do a loan move would be disappointing. However, now the Eagles have been quoted the price to permanently sign Zaha – however, even that may be on the cheap scale to replace such excellent players.
Palace told price to sign Zaha permanently
So despite all the talk of a loan, Palace Zaha could also be available permanently this summer as Galatasaray name their price.
According to The Guardian, the Eagles would need to pay £9m in order to sign Zaha this summer, however for now talks continue over a possible loan deal.
It is yet to be seen if the Eagles would be interested in spending £9m on Zaha or whether a season-long loan is the only way a deal will transpire.
If Zaha were to return, it is not guaranteed that he would start considering Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Daichi Kamada are all options for the position.
He would be returning to a club which has changed a lot over the past year.
