The 30 players in the world who could replace Zaha?
Affordable by Palace I mean. Cause of course you could go for the most similar player, which is Inaki Williams of Bilbao, who is 2 years younger, but he would cost just as much as Zaha and wouldn't really come here either at the offers he has.

So, who could offer as many goals and assists as Zaha and keep Palace up in the first division if Zaha decides to leave to a better team in the summer?

So, the list is:

From Spain:

Mikel Oyarzabal from Sociedad with 39 goals and assists in the last 2 years in 6500 minutes
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Pretty expensive player, as he's very young too, but he can keep a mid-table up pretty much by himself, proven in the past seasons. He has offers from other teams, but a bid of about 40 million would do it. Get 70 for Zaha, you even make profit.

Cristian Tello from Betis with 36 goals and assists in 6300 minutes in the last 3 years.
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My favourite player on the list! Incredibly powerful, but likewise fast, also good with the ball as he graduated from Barcelona's Academy, he's got everything. Even played as wingback on occasion, so does defensive duties too.

Pione Sisto from Celta Vigo with 32 goals and assists since coming to Spain in the last 2 seasons in 7500 minuts.
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Would be a gamble, as he has had a pretty bad current season, but last season he was the 2nd best assister in the league, after Messi, at only 23 tears of age.

Ibai Gomez from Athletic Bilbao, having joined in the winter for 3.5 million, with 30 goals and assists in the last 3 years in 6600 minutes.
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Good player, but I don't know if could reach Zaha level. Could be though. And for around 5 million should be available.

From England:

Erik Lamela fro Tottnham, amazing player, height, speed, everything, rather unlucky with injuries this past season and might want to change the air and get playing time week after week in order to boost his chances of making the Argentine first 11. Still has 29 goals and assists in the last 3900 minutes in 3 seasons.
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Would honestly love to see him at Palace. I think he could be a star. There's a nother really good Argentine player down the page, Joaquin Correa, read on! I'd really like them both, they're top players.

Ryan Fraser from Bournemouth with 30 goals and assists in 5500 minutes in the last 2 years.
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Would Bournemouth sell to a rival? Maybe, for the right price. He seems to be underrated there and in the English league in general. The things he did this year were amazing. He's much shorter than Zaha, so would be a different type of player, but also very fast and hard working.
Could he do what Zaha does for Palace? Probably no, but would be close. Not bad if you could get him for around 20 million.

From Germany:

Thorgan Hazard from Moenchengladbach with 44 goals and assists in 6000 minutes in the last 2 years.
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Costs 35 million and seemingly a number of big teams wan team, like Liverpool and Arsenal. But if they choose other players, then Palace could tempt him.

Dodi Lukebakio from Dusseldorf with 26 goals and assists in 3500 minutes in the last 2 seasons.
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And he's just 21 years of age. Has really rocked the Bundesliga thi sseason and kept Dusseldorf up all by himself. Scored a hat-trick against Bayern I think. He belongs to Wtaford, but I'm not sure what their plans are for him. If they want to sell, they probably would for around 40 million. He would have ups and downs though until he gets to around 24-25, but then h'd be constant and the investment could pay off three times over.

Milot Rashica from Werder Bremen with 22 goals and assists in 4300 minutes in the last 2 seasons.
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He was linked with Palace. Would be the same case as with Lukebakio, expect variations in performances cause he's very young at 22, but I've seen him this season and he has looke hard-working and great in front of the goal.

Vincenzo Grifo from Freiburg, on loan from Hoffenheim, with 36 goals and assists in 4900 minutes in the last 3 seasons.
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Would be a very cheap option, extremely cheap. He's a new Italian national team international, but not very famous. The numbers though speak by themselves. Plays as left winger and enters a lot and shoots with hi spowerful right foot. Has technique. Can also play at times attacking midfielder.

From Italy:

Stephan El Shaarawy from Roma with 33 goals and assists in 4700 minutes in the last 2 years.
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I advocated a lot for him last summer when he was available for tansfer for just 16 million.
After his magnificent season, his price has gone up, but Roma could be persuaded to sell for around 25-30 million, especially if they don't make the Champions League.

Gervinho from Parma with 21 goals and assists in his last 3300 minutes in the Serie A (China period doesn't matter here)
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Kind of on the old side at 31, so wouldn't be long term, but would do the job. Accustomed to English football. Cheap too

Joaquin Correa from Lazio with 29 goals and assists in 4800 minutes in the last 2 years for Sevilla and Lazio.
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I'm surprised Sevilla let him go to Lazio for a moderate sum. For me, he was very promoising, a longiline type of player, very good with the ball, very fast, somewhat similar to Cristiano Ronaldo. Would be awesome to get. I'd pay for him in excess of 15 million, they'd probably setle for even less.

Jose Callejon with 46 goals and assists in the last 2 years in 7500 minutes.
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He doesn't look like much in terms of goals but is one of the fastest and most hard-working players on the planet and gives a tone of assists! He is 32 years of age, so old, but his body muscle if of a 25 year old and he is stil faster than anyone in the Italian league, he will play until 39 with no problems. His release clause for foreign leagues is just 20 million. If I were at Real Madrid or Arsenal, I'd pay it in a asecond. For Palace....that's a big investment. But if Zaha leaves, Callejon would replace him 100%.

Iago Falque from Torino with34 goals and assists in the last 2 seasons in 4700 minutes.
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Yes, one of the players who is not in the spotlight, but does wonders. Knows the English league as he is a product of Tottenham.

Matteo Politano from Inter with 28 goals and assists in the last 2 seasons in 6200 minutes.
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I really like how strong and powerful this left foot player is. He has played quite well at Inter, but is only on loan from Sassuolo. If INter decides not to pay the traner fee or if they don't qualify to the Champions League, Sassuolo would look to other suitors. He could be tempted with a premier League salary, much bigger than in Italy.

Adem Ljajic from Torino with 34 goals and assists in 4500 minutes in the last 2 seasons, though some of these in the Turkish league, at Besiktas, on loan since winter.
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Former prodigy of Fiorentina, he is one of the best in Italian football still not at a big team. Linked up amazingly with Iago Falque at Torino but got into trouble with the managers there. A player at the levt of Tadic, his Serbian compatriot.

Keita Balde from Inter with 48 goals and assists in 5100 minutes in the last 3 years.
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Yes, some of those came from playing as center forward too, from where it's easier to score, but mostly he plays on the wing. Monaco bought him from Lazio and, although he played well in Monaco too, they are looking to sell for around 35 million. If Inter don't pay up at the end of the season, he could be tempted.

From France:

Florian Thauvin from Marseille with 69 goals and assists in the last 2 years in 7000 minutes
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Wanted also by Bayern Munich last summer, but they might go for other players (I heard Nicolas Pepe is high on their list). If he doesn;t get a transfer to Bayern, he might consider a high paycheck from England. He has been here before with Newcastle when he was really young, but didn't get many opportunities. He's much more mature now. Marseille should sell for around 30-40 million of they don't make it to the Champions League (which is very likely)

Lucas Ocampos from Marseille with 32 goals and assists in 6500 minutes in the last 2 seasons.
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Well-built and fast winger, Marseille could sell if they miss out on the Champions League.

Bertrand Traore from Lyon with 40 goals and assists in the last 2 seasons in 5700 minutes.
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The former Chelsea player, winger or striker. He has mostly played as a winger for Lyon in the past 2 years and most of his goals and assists have come from there. Lyon might not qualify for the Champions League, so they may set an affordable price, somewhere around 25 million. He is worth it.

Romain Alessandrini, with 20 goals and assists in 3400 minutes in Ligue 1 for Marseille before going to play in the MLS. And ok, the MLS league is poor, but to provide 45 goals and assists in 4600 minutes there is somehing else.
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Kind of old at 30 years though, so not one for the long run. Massive improvement for the squad determination would be, as he is the kind of player Ribery and Valbuena are, a role model for younger players.

From Portugal:

Ricardo Horta from Braga with 35 goals and assists in the last 2 years in 5300 minutes.
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Ok, Portugal isn;t exactly the top league, but would still do around 1 goal or assist every 200 minutes in the Premier League. But Braga knows his vaue and wants some good money. And Malaga let him go for free a few years ago......what suckers!! He has really proven himself a top player in Portugal.

Shoya Nakajima from Portimonense with 34 goals and assists in 4100 minutes in Portugal.
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He was under the radar of a lot of big teams who wanted him, but he has gone in the winter to Qatar after a team paid a league record, staggering 30 million for him!!

Current international for Japan with 3 goals in the first 8 matches. He is very short, but he makes up in running a lot.

Otavio from Porto with 33 goals and assists in 5500 minutes in the last 3 years.
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Porto usually asks for a lot of money, but Otavio is not always a starter. They prefer Jose Corona in his place, so they might let him go for free. He's a very good player at recently turned 24 as far as I'm concerned, but would need time if he ever were to match Zaha.

Nani, recently transfered from Sporting to the MLS, with 36 goals and assists in 4900 minutes in the last 3 years for Valencia, Lazio and Sporting.
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Wonderful performances from Nani, who is still very agile at 32 years of age. Yes, not a solution for the future, but one who knows the league very well and is still among the best assisters in Premier League history, even though he played here briefly. Cost the MLS team nothing, only salaries, wouldn't be an issue to pay a few million and bring him here. Not a Zaha replacement to be sold in the future, but one who can offer as much as Zaha to keep the team up for 2-3 years.

From the Netherlands:

Brandley Kuwas from Heracles, with 43 goals and assists in 5400 minutes in the last 2 seasons.
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Yes, I know, it's the Netherlands and goals are scored there very much. But the man is playing for Heracles, not Ajax,PSV or Feyenoord. I dare say he has the most powerful left foot in th eleague and one of th emost powerful in all of Europe, scores some stunners from the distance.

From Russia:

Viktor Claesson from Kransodar with 41 goals and assists in 5800 minutes in the last 2 seasons, but also 7 goals and assits in 1600 minutes for the national team in this time.
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One of my favourite players for his seriousness and non-stop committment.

Emiliano Rigoni from Zenit with 32 goals and assists in 5300 minutes in the last 3 years.
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Bought by Zenit for 8 million from Independiente when he was 24 years old, went on loan to Atalanta in the summer, scored 3 goals in 12 matches for them, but went back to Zenit as they couldn't decide on a transfer fee. He's in good current formwith Zenit.

Quincy Promes. I'm writing him here, even though he currently plays for Sevilla, cause here is where he showed most of quality. 30 goals and assists in the last 2 seasons in Russia in 3500 minutes. Also, 24 goals and assists in Spain, the Champions League and the national team in this time.
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From Ukraine:

Taison from Shakhtar with 31 goals and assists in 5400 minutes in the last 2 seasons.
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Amazing player, I loved him since the first time I saw him 10 years ago. Has everything: speed, determination, movement, skill. Made the Brazil squad for the World Cup Tournament last summer, that good he was! And imagine the competition to get inside the Top 8 offensive players of Brazil! Problem with him is that he's already 31. But would definitely be tempted by an experience in the Premier League after all these years. Much faster and better than Bernard who went to Everton

From Turkey:

Edin Visca from IBB, with 57 goals and assists in 6500 minutes in the last 2 seasons.
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Kind of old at 29, but ask anyone in Turkey and they will admit it, even though they root for Galatasaray, Fenerbahce or Besiktas: Visca is the best player there. And it's no wonder his team is first and going to win the league and play directly in the Champioons League next season. National Bosnia team starter too alongside Pjanic and Dzeko in attack and with many goals and assists. One problem would be that he only has 1 position: right midfielder or right winger.

Edited by mattteo (23 Apr 2019 9.00pm)

Edited by mattteo (24 Apr 2019 2.21pm)

We probably won’t ‘replace’ Wilf in the way you think, as happened with Bolasie and Townsend, and he came because he was available at the time and there was a relegation clause in his contract. He wouldn’t have left Newcastle otherwise and I don’t recall anyone else needing him.

You never know, we may get someone who delivers the ball first time into the corridor of uncertainty.

COYP

If reports are to be believed then our scouts have spent quite a bit of time in Portugal this season, so that might possibly be where we look if Zaha goes.

Why would they all go on holiday together???

Matteo that is impressive I don't know how you find the time to watch so much football.

At a guess how many matches do you watch per week across the European leagues?

I have edited and deleted a couple of posts. Please confine comments to the subject matter.