Wilfried Zaha to cost Chelsea £80m in January despite his Arsenal frustration over fee - 7M sport

Wilfried Zaha to cost Chelsea £80m in January despite his Arsenal frustration over fee

Chelsea are reportedly eyeing up Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha, but they will have to spend big to prise him away from Selhurst Park in January


Posted Friday, December 13, 2019 by Dailystar.co.uk

Wilfried Zaha to cost Chelsea £80m in January despite his Arsenal frustration over fee

Chelsea will have to pay £80m if they want to sign Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace in January.

Zaha, 27, was reportedly looking to leave Selhurst Park back in the summer, but a potential switch to Arsenal broke down when the north London club failed to meet Palace’s lofty valuation - leaving the Ivory Coast international frustrated.

He is desperate to play at the highest level having made 167 of his 181 Premier League appearances with Palace.

And reports suggest Zaha is now attracting attention from Chelsea, who are free to do business in January after their two-window transfer ban was halved by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

According to the Evening Standard, though, Palace will not budge from their £80m valuation of the player should the Blues make a move in the winter window.

Zaha is under contract with the Eagles until 2023, meaning chairman Steve Parish is in a strong position to command a hefty transfer fee for him.

However, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard revealed after Tuesday night’s 2-1 Champions League win over Lille that they will aim to replace the goals and creativity provided by Eden Hazard in January.

Hazard, who netted 21 goals in 52 games for the Blues last term, finally secured his dream £130m switch to Real Madrid in the summer.

"I think [January business] will be very fluid and there will be discussions from now about how we will strengthen,” Lampard told BT Sport.

“We lost a lot of goals and creation with Eden last year, in his particular position.

“We missed some chances and we can probably push and look at strengthening in those areas.”

Zaha has only reached double figures for Palace in one season, scoring 10 goals in 36 games last year.

Overall, he has bagged just 55 goals in 340 appearances for Palace.

Another winger being linked with a move to Stamford Bridge is Jadon Sancho.

The Borussia Dortmund star is in hot goalscoring form, producing a return of 10 goals in 21 games this season.

He has scored in each of his last five appearances in all competitions, including the opener in their crucial 2-1 Champions League win over Slavia Prague on Tuesday.

The Daily Mail claim the Blues have made Sancho their principal target now the transfer embargo has been lifted.

It is believed they would have to break their club-record fee to bring him back to England, nevertheless, with Dortmund likely to demand around £100m.

Sancho is a close friend of Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi, 19, and the west London club are reportedly hoping for the pair to sandwich Christian Pulisic in a fresh-faced attack.

It has only been two years since Sancho departed Manchester City, who allowed him to leave for Dortmund in 2017.



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