Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha is now looking most likely to leave the club on a free transfer, according to Fabrizio Romano in today’s edition of his exclusive CaughtOffside column, the Daily Briefing.
Zaha is heading towards the end of his contract at Selhurst Park after a great career with the club, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if bigger teams were now showing a strong interest in snapping him up in the summer.
It remains to be seen where Zaha could end up, but Romano has stressed that the Ivory Coast international will likely prioritise a tempting project where he’ll be able to play regularly.
Chelsea have been linked with Zaha several times, most recently by 90min, and there’s no doubt they’d benefit from bringing in the 30-year-old as an upgrade on struggling attacking players like Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech.
“Crystal Palace will try until the end to keep Wilfried Zaha, but yes, I’m told a free transfer is now a serious possibility and the most likely solution. He’d move for an important club, but I think before January nothing will be resolved,” Romano explained.
“I’ve revealed before that Roma showed an interest in him last summer, but we’ll see about 2023. For sure, playing regularly will be a priority for him and his decision.”
It will be interesting to see if Chelsea can win the race for Zaha, or if he might be tempted to try a new adventure abroad.