Crystal Palace boss gives his verdict on Wilf Zaha’s future as transfer window set to crank up speculation again
Roy Hodgson hopes that Wilfried Zaha will still be at Crystal Palace next season, but acknowledges that the club may have to be realistic with the 28-year-old’s desire to win trophies.
Throughout Hodgson’s four seasons at the helm, Zaha has been instrumental in keeping the Eagles in the Premier League.
He has scored 34 goals while Hodgson has been manager of Palace, with this season being the best return in front of goal of his career – 11.
But with the opening of the transfer window approaching, Palace are braced for another summer of speculation, rumours and whispers about their talisman.
When asked how important the academy graduate has been to his tenure, Hodgson said: “If I was going to be continuing with this club as manager, I would be definitely wanting to do that with Wilf Zaha on my side. He has been fantastic all throughout the time that I have been at the club, and he is still such a vital player for us.
“I don’t think there is any particular desire from the club to lose Wilf Zaha. But the club is realistic, and they will know also that Wilf has ambitions of his own – maybe he will be less keen to stay than we are to keep him.
“If it rears its head, and there is a club coming in and trying to steal Wilf from us, that will be a situation the club will have to deal with. I don’t envy the club, or the new manager, that problem. I hope, as a club person, and now as a fan of the club rather than an employee, that Wilf will stay because he still has so much to offer.”
Speaking before his final game in charge of the South Londoners – a trip to Anfield to take on his old side Liverpool on Sunday – Hodgson highlighted how much Zaha has developed as a player, and as a person, from the day when he first walked through the doors of Copers Cope in September 2017.
He says: “He has matured, there is no doubt about that. But he still retains the enormous level of skill he possesses, and that, in the end, is what you’re looking for. You’re looking for what the player can bring to the field of play in order to help his team win games, and Wilf still has a lot of that.”
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