Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson admits he is powerless to stop a European club from launching a bid for wantaway star Wilfried Zaha.
Ivory Coast international Zaha has been the subject of intense speculation regarding his future throughout the summer and he reportedly handed in a transfer request to try and force through a move away from Selhurst Park.
Arsenal and Everton both lodged bids to try and sign the 26-year-old, but neither club was able to match the Eagles’ £80million valuation and Zaha, therefore, remained a Palace player when the Premier League transfer window slammed shut last week.
Ironically, Palace’s first game of the new season was against Everton at Selhurst Park last weekend, although Zaha only featured as a second-half substitute during that match as he was not deemed in the right frame of mind to start.
The former Manchester United player is expected to return to the starting XI for Sunday’s trip to Bramall Lane to take on newly-promoted Sheffield United and Hodgson and Palace supporters alike will be hoping he remains focused on sticking with the club for the rest of the season.
However, the transfer window for most of the top leagues around Europe remains open until the start of September and clubs in Germany, most notably Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, have expressed an interest in the forward in the past.
Hodgson admits he would be powerless to do anything should a European club launch a substantial bid to try and sign Zaha.
“There’s not too much point worrying about it, if you ask me would I welcome it the answer is no,” Hodgson told reporters.
“I would rather that he gets his head down and commits himself to the season that we’ve got in front of us and commits himself to helping me, the coaching staff and the players into having another season that we can regard as a good one.
That’s what I would like. “You can never rule out the possibility that it might happen because the transfer window in Europe is still open until the end of the month.
It’s not something I’m going to worry about because it’s something that I cannot affect.”
It is unclear at this stage whether a move away from the Premier League would be of interest to Zaha, while English clubs could also renew their interest in the forward when the English transfer window reopens on January.
It may be a case of Palace supporters enjoying having Zaha in the ranks while they can, as it feels more like a case of when not if he leaves the club.
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