You have obviously never been to a Scottish game i take it

For years now Zaha has said fairly openly, and always with respect, that he regretted signing his last contract with Palace because, as much as playing for his local and boyhood team does matter, he is first and foremost a professional who wants to play at the highest level he can in the time that he has. If memory serves he binned the agent who advised him to sign the deal. It never needed Hercule Poirot to work out how Zaha felt.

In terms of him pissing the club around all summer, I disagree. Zaha never downed tools, he always played through injury for Palace, and he produced. He is entitled to assess his options like any other person in the world of work. The club has known for years that his contract ran out this summer and that he wanted to win things / play in Europe if possible. Two years ago they knew that Wilf only had two years left. Last year they knew it was one. At Christmas, they knew he hadn't signed a new deal. We could go on. Surely, based on all known facts (as above) the club always felt Wilf leaving was the more likely outcome?

The fact we haven't signed an obvious replacement is probably less to do with uncertainty around Wilf, and more to do with the normal way things work in the window - whoever we are interested in will be assessing their other options, selling clubs will be waiting to see if they land their own targets before agreeing to sell, etc and so on. It is not always possible to have transfer targets wrapped up early, as there are too many moving pieces beyond your control. There is a reason deadline day is so hectic.

Finally, let's not forget the money side of this. Even if Palace had offered a £200k p/w contract as reported, Wilf would have cost us £10m a year. That is a lot in wages, but not much in the context of an overall transfer budget. The idea we would be unable to afford to make offers to possible targets and also offer the contract to Wilf at the same time doesn't add up.

The club could, should, and I'm sure have been, working on incoming deals to replace Zaha as best they can regardless of any lingering hope he may stay. That none of them have come to fruition yet will have little or nothing to do with Palace waiting for Wilf.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (24 Jul 2023 12.38pm)

It is of no interest to me to go, but I have been to a game in Turkey.

Its official. Thank you Wilf(see you in January on loan) . . . [Link]

This operation, will make the 'Charge Of The Light Brigade' seem like a simple military exercise.

They've had months to sort out a replacement maybe they'll do something now?

If Wilf's re-signing with us depended upon the ambition shown by our board then it was a simple choice for him.

Denial is not just a river in Egypt

I don't understand why the club are expected to say anything. They already confirmed that he had left the club when his contract expired?

This does feel like a punch in the gut though, for a generation of Palace fans, they've only ever really known Zaha at Palace. He is a true Palace legend and one of the best players I've seen in the shirt. Was hoping we would re-sign him and stick him up top, supported by a trio of Eze, Olise and Franca. Some serious recruitment work needs to be done now by the club.

Wish him all the best but I hope he is thick skinned enough for when he gets sent off or misses a penalty, the Turkish fans are not kind.

La la la your mum