Ornstein rules out Zaha January transfer as Chelsea target is ‘fully committed’ to Crystal Palace for now
David Ornstein is reporting that Chelsea-linked Wilfried Zaha will not leave Crystal Palace this month as he remains ‘fully committed’ to the club.
Zaha has already established himself as a club legend at Crystal Palace. He progressed through the ranks at the London outfit and he returned for a second spell after his switch to Man Utd did not go to plan.
The winger has been a star performer for the Eagles for a few seasons and he is now arguably at the peak of his powers.
The 30-year-old scored 14 Premier League goals in 2020/21 and this term he has eight goal involvements in 16 league appearances.
Zaha’s future is in doubt though as his contract at Palace is due to expire later this year.
His attitude cannot be faulted as he is continuing to give it his all after he was linked with Arsenal and Chelsea last summer.
The attacker was rated at around £30m at the time but clubs are reportedly queueing up to sign Zaha on a free transfer in June.
PSG and Borussia Dortmund are among the clubs now being linked with a move for Zaha.
Zaha is now free to agree to sign for an overseas club ahead of the end of his contract in the summer.
Despite this, The Athletic reporter Ornstein has stated that Zaha is ‘fully committed to completing his deal and helping the south London side until it runs out’.
‘Despite seeing the possibility of a move in previous windows fail to materialise, Zaha’s relationship with Palace is known to be healthy — especially since Vieira took charge in July 2021.
‘Chelsea were among the clubs to consider Zaha in the previous window but it would have taken a high fee to prise him away from Palace, which — even with only a year to go on his deal at the time — illustrated his value to them.
‘This time around, he has no intention of departing and is said to be completely focused on playing for Palace, who sit 12th in the Premier League table and travel to struggling Chelsea next Sunday.
‘Once the summer arrives, Zaha will have to choose whether he signs a new contract at Palace — and they want that to happen — or starts a new chapter elsewhere. At present, no decision has been made either way.’
This news is certainly a boost for Palace, even if Zaha does finally move on as a free agent in the summer.
Patrick Vieira’s side have slipped down to 12th in the Premier League following recent defeats against Fulham and Tottenham.
Also over the weekend, Southampton battled back from a goal down to knock them out of the FA Cup.
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