Ivory Coast’s Zaha commits to Palace ending months long speculation
Many of you know him for the edgy haircuts, some for the ear to ear smile, diving criticism and quite a number of you for the “stop it bro” captions on our FirstTouch Instagram page for embarrassing defenders. Yes, the amazingly talented forward who has terrorised Premier League defenders in the Eagles colors has penned a new deal keeping him at Selhurst park until the 2022/23 season.
The 25-year-old has really become the backbone of the Crystal Palace side that survived a relegation scare in the 2017/18 campaign after a poor start that saw them lose all of their opening seven matches with scoring a single goal. The fans actually came for the eighth match wearing 007 shirts telling the story of their mishap, only for Zaha to return and break the curse by handing them a 2-1 win over the then Champions Chelsea. In total, he netted nine times in the 2017/18 EPL season and started of this campaign in the similar form, scoring in their 2-0 win over Fulham to become the club’s joint English Premier League top scorer. He has been a subject of speculation with the likes of Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea being linked to the forward whose reported price tag falls in the region of £70 million. It could be much more now because of this new contract.
Cyrus Christie of Fulham and Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage on August 11, 2018 in London, United Kingdom.
(Aug. 10, 2018 - Source: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images Europe)
Here is what Wilfried had to say after putting pen to paper.
“I just wanted to get it over and done with, so I can focus on the season. I’m buzzing that we managed to get it sorted.”
Even the club chairman admitted that the team is to be built around the Ivorian:
“It’s the last piece of the jigsaw in the transfer window. One of the important things for Wilfried is that we can compete at this level. It’s important that he stays, but we have to put a team around him. ”
For Crystal Palace's sake, hopefully Zaha can stay healthy. The Eagles were winless in Zaha's injury absences at the start of last year's campaign and will be hoping for a better start this season. With a 2-0 win on opening day against Fulham, it's safe to say they are on the right track.