Reports are claiming that Arsenal are still in the hunt for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha despite the imminent arrival of Nicolas Pepe. The Gunners pursuit of Zaha appeared to have hit the buffers over the Eagles’ valuation of the Ivory Coast winger, with the north Londoners offering £40m – a figure well short of the £70m that Palace are asking.
Everton are said to have bid £55m, which also drew short shrift from the south Londoners’ money men. Arsenal turned to Lille’s Pepe and are close to finalising a deal, which suggested that any thoughts of signing Zaha were out of the window. However, Sky Sports are suggesting that is not the case and the Emirates outfit still have ambitions to snare the former Manchester United star.
Whether the impasse can be ended is open to question, with Palace unlikely to budge on their demands and Arsenal not prepared to meet the numbers in question. Having expressed a desire to move on, it may be that Zaha now has to spend another campaign under Roy Hodgson unless a more realistic price tag can be set.
