Wilfried Zaha 'set on leaving’ Crystal Palace as Roy Hodgson suggests summer transfer could happen

Going? Wilfried Zaha wants to leave Crystal Palace, says Roy Hodgson.
AP

Roy Hodgson believes that Wilfried Zaha seems "set" on leaving Crystal Palace and admitted that the speculation surrounding his future has affected the player's performances.

Hodgson is not known for publicly criticising his players, especially ones who situation is as delicate at Zaha's.

Zaha has three years remaining on the five-year, £130,000-a-week contract he signed in 2018, but revealed in an interview with the Daily Mail the following year that he was ready to leave the club in search of Champions League football.

He was strongly linked with Arsenal - with the Gunners failing with at least two bids for him before they signed Nicolas Pepe instead - and was subject of reported transfer bids from Chelsea in the January transfer window also.

Despite Zaha's insistence that he wanted to leave Selhurst Park, Palace stood firm on their £80 million valuation and Zaha remained in south London.

But Hodgson confirmed the Ivory Coast international is insistent on finding a new club following their 1-1 draw against Tottenham to end a run of seven straight defeats.

Photo: POOL/AFP via Getty Images
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The 72-year-old also believes the winger has been distracted by speculation over his future, criticising his form as "quite poor".

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"It's a dilemma for the club and for him if he is so set on leaving," Hodgson told BBC Sport. "We still like him very much, we can't make him like us.

"It's obviously affected him because his form in the last few weeks has been quite poor considering what he is capable of doing. I don't have an answer.

Zaha, who rejoined Palace in 2014 after an ill-fated spell at Manchester United, has struggled for form this season scoring just four goals in 38 appearances.

And a clause in the terms that brought him back from Old Trafford has been a stumbling point for potential transfers thus far.

Arsenal initially bid around £40million for Zaha, while it has been suggested that the Gunners were also willing to offer players to sweeten any deal.

United included a sell-on clause when they sold Zaha back to Palace in 2015 as part of a deal worth around £6m.

It entitles them to 20 per cent of the profit made on the Ivorian’s sale.

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