LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 03: Sam Allerdyce (2nd R), Manager of Crystal Palace celebrates as Wilfried Zaha scores his side's first goal during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Swansea City at Selhurst Park on January 3, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Tottenham won’t be able to sign top January target
Tottenham won’t succeed in signing Wilfried Zaha
In many ways, Wilfried Zaha is the perfect player to give Tottenham’s attack the extra dimension they desperately need. Unfortunately, the speedy winger also gives that edge to his current side. That’s why Crystal Palace won’t let him leave for White Hart Lane this month at any price.
Predictably, Zaha’s early exit from the African Cup of Nations has struck up a new round of rumours connecting Tottenham with the Palace star. The Sun claims that Mauricio Pochettino is pushing Spurs to sanction a bid of £25 million for Zaha this week. That amount of money might tempt the higher-ups at Selhurst Park, but ultimately they will decline.
Very honestly, Zaha could be the difference between survival and relegation for Sam Allardyce. The Palace manager has struggled mightily since taking over for Alan Pardew. In fairness, he hasn’t had his most talented attacker for the majority of his matches in charge of the Eagles.
Zaha’s ability to combine and unlock the potential of Christian Benteke is Palace’s single best hope for Premier League survival. Those two men have the talent to score just enough goals to keep the Eagles out of the bottom three. If either goes missing for significant time, Palace could easily end up in the Championship.
That’s precisely why Spurs’ attempts to sign Zaha are destined to fail. He’s almost a priceless player for Palace. Even if Daniel Levy is willing to overpay, he can’t match the price difference between Championship and Premier League football next season. That’s why Zaha is destined to stay put.
That doesn’t mean the club shouldn’t make a few Deadline Day offers for Zaha though. Spurs would be smart to continue to let Zaha know about their interest. Communicating news of their offers through various back channels could make signing Zaha in the summer much easier. That’s the earliest realistic opportunity Tottenham will have to acquire the speedy winger.
Look for stories connecting Tottenham with Zaha to continue right up until Deadline Day. In the end, Spurs will come up empty in their quest to sign the Crystal Palace star. He is simply too valuable to the Eagles’ hopes for Premier League survival.
